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THE  FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES 
OF  LEARNING  AND  STUDY 


]  JA 


THE  FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES 
OF  LEARNING  AND  STUDY 


By 
A.  S.  EDWARDS 

Professor  of  Psychology 
University  of  Georgia 


*    •  >     »   *  t 


Baltimore 

WARWICK  &  YORK.  Inc. 

1920 


Copyright.  1920 
By  WARWICK  &  YORK.  Inc. 


TO  MY  MOTHER 


437588 


THE  FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES  OF  LEARNING 
AND  STUDY 

Preface 

The  present  volume  is  a  rewriting  of  manuscript  which  the 
writer  has  used  for  some  time  as  part  of  his  lectures  to  stud- 
ents in  educational  psycholog>\  The  aim  is  especially  to  show 
how  the  results  of  general  psychology  and  experimental  psy- 
chology' and  of  allied  sciences  can  be  put  into  use  by  the  teach- 
er and  the  student  in  the  problems  of  learning  and  of  study. 
In  the  chapters  on  Making  the  Appeal  to  the  Student,  and  At- 
tention and  Sustained  Effort,  examples  have  been  given  from 
the  writer's  own  studies  and  observations  for  the  purpose  of 
illustrating  psychological  principles  involved  and  to  suggest  to 
teachers  ways  that  have  proved  successful  in  the  actual  every- 
day work  of  the  teacher. 

The  writer  thinks  that  The  Habit  Theory  has  not  received 
its  due  in  educational  practice  and  perhaps  not  in  educational 
thought.  It  is  a  principle  which  runs  through  the  whole  work 
of  education  and  the  adoption  of  it  as  the  fundamental  work- 
ing principle  of  the  teacher's  work  should  help  to  bring  the 
definiteness  that  is  needed.  If  habits,  including  habitudes, 
dispositions  and  attitudes,  are  not  all  the  results  that  education 
can  show,  we  can  see  what  is  left  out  after  we  do  our  duty  to 
the  first  and  fundamental  things. 

The  general  scheme  of  the  book  can  be  indicated  by  the  fol- 
lowing statement  of  some  of  the  main  thoughts:  1)  The  nature 
of  education  and  of  the  educational  process  from  the  point  of 
view  of  permanent  results  in  the  individual.  2)  The  necessity 
for  permanent  results  of  some  kind  and  the  nature  of  these 
results.  3)  The  process  of  learning,  of  making  acquisitions 
which  can  be  made  more  or  less  permanent  and  suggestions 
for  the  right  direction  of  this  learning  process.  4)  A  discus- 
sion of  how  to  make  the  best  progress  in  learning.  5)  The 
getting  of  not  only  specific  but  general  improvement.  6)  The 
factors  that  make  for  permanent  results.  7.)  Modes  of  ap- 
peal for  the  purpose  of  arousing  and  directing  the  desired  ac- 
tivities. 8)  The  development  through  lower  to  higher  stages 
of  attention,  activity,  and  effort.  9) The  development  of  the 
emotional  and  moral  nature  for  permanent  results  in  moral 
character.     10)  Physical  and  physiological  conditions  that  are 


2  piuj!S/c^¥t^^  :0f  VEAumsC  ani>  study 

involved  in  learning  and  study.  11)  The  problem  of  how  to 
study,  teaching  to  study,  and  of  putting  supervised  study  into 
the  school.  12)  The  need  for  definite  ends  of  education  and 
the  possibility  of  using  the  principles  and  facts  presented  here- 
in to  help  towards  greater  definiteness  of  aim,  of  procedure 
and  of  obtaining  recognizable  and  measurable  end  results  so 
that  the  work  of  education  shall  approach  in  definiteness  the 
achievement  of  other  big  business  enterprises. 

The  directions  for  students  appearing  in  chapter  16  are 
practically  unchanged  from  the  early  writing  nearly  three 
years  ago. 

References  at  the  ends  of  chapters  indicate  books  and  ar- 
ticles that  seem  to  the  author  to  be  most  useful  to  the  teacher 
if  he  wishes  to  choose  from  a  large  number  of  possible  refer- 
ences. Others  may  be  equally  good,  but  a  selected  bibliog- 
raphy seems  to  be  most  valuable. 

It  is  my  pleasure  and  duty  to  acknowledge  the  helpful  criti- 
cisms and  suggestions  of  Dean  L.  D.  CofTman,  Professor  N. 
Wilde,  Professor  H.  H.  Woodrow,  Professor  J.  Peterson,  and 
Mr.  J.  R.  Kantor,  of  The  University  of  Minnesota  and  of  Pro- 
fessor H.  W.  Odum,  of  The  University  of  Georgia. 

A.  S.  EDWARDS. 

The  Psychological  Laboratory. 

Peabody  School  of  Education. 

University  of  Georgia. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Chapter  1. 
FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES  OF  EDUCATION. 

Pages  11-21 
Purpose  and  point  of  view  of  writer.  Habit  a  convenient 
term.  Habit  but  not  automatism.  Habit  fixes  but  it  also  re- 
leases. No  justification  for  education  which  does  not  make 
permanent  results.  Education  compares  in  importance  with 
heredity.  Importance  of  the  habit  theory.  Habit  in  various 
fields  of  thought.  Habit  at  bottom  a  matter  of  physics.  Ideals 
and  standards.  Three  great  principles  of  education.  The 
greatest  needs  of  education. 

Chapter  2. 
NEUROLOGY  AND  THE  BASIS  OF  EDUCATION. 

Pages  22-36 
The  fundamental  nature  and  importance  of  habit:  Quota- 
tion from  Dr.  Carpenter.  The  modifications  in  the  individual 
which  result  in  habits  make  up  his  education.  The  work  of 
the  teacher.  Sully  on  habit.  Comprehensiveness  of  the 
habit  theory  as  shown  by  Prof.  Angell's  Psychology.  Habit 
is  fundamental  for  the  most  complete  kinds  of  thinking.  Habit 
and  originality.  Habit  and  plasticity.  Habit  and  the  fixity 
of  response.  The  danger  of  too  much  fixity.  No  necessary 
danger  of  losing  plasticity  through  education.  Flexibility  de- 
I>ends  partly  on  a  variety  of  habits  and  a  habit  of  choosing 
from  among  them.  Variety  of  response  a  peculiarly  human 
thing.  Education  and  initiative.  The  varying  strengths  of 
habits.     Types  of  habit:  habit  and  habitude. 

Chapter  3. 

THE  FUNDAMENTAL  WORK  OF  EDUCATION. 

Pages  37-50 
Habit  is  the  basis  of  progress  in  learning.     Progress  to  high- 
er stages  of  efficiency.     Progress  and  modifying  the  old  habits. 
Education  and  the  development  of  permanent  desires  and  in- 


4  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

terests.  The  advantages  of  the  habit  theory:  Fundamental 
nature  and  comprehensiveness  of  the  theory.  It  gives  defin- 
iteness  to  the  work  of  the  teacher.  It  gives  the  basis  for  scien- 
tific treatment  and  measurement.  It  reduces  all  education  to 
the  same  terms.  It  emphasizes  the  psychological  factors 
necessary  to  learning.  The  knowledge  of  habit  formation  re- 
veals the  manifold  nature  of  the  teacher's  work.  Other  aims 
of  education  are  included  and  defined.  Disadvantage  of  the 
term  habit.  Judgments,  ideas  and  habits.  Ideals,  the  guiding 
influence  of  education.  Ideals  and  achievement.  The  case  of 
Dr.  Brashear.  Ideals  as  permanent  motives  in  life.  The  con- 
trolling principle  of  education.  Determination  of  the  curri- 
culum on  the  basis  of  activities  which  result  in  habits.  Kinds 
of  habits  to  be  formed.  Education  as  the  formation  and  mod- 
ification of  habits  under  the  guidance  of  ideals  and  the  con- 
trol of  standards. 


Chapter  4. 

LEARNING  AND  HABIT  FORMATION. 

Pages  51-62 

Life  and  habit  formation.  The  need  for  habits.  The  ef- 
fects of  habits.  The  strong  guiding  influence  of  habit.  Prin- 
ciples of  habit  formation :  Learning  correctly.  Accuracy  first, 
speed  later.  Helps  to  habit  formation  include: — Strong  and 
decided  initiative.  Continuity  of  practice.  Use  of  every  op- 
portunity. Caring  enough  and  determination.  A  clear  plan. 
The  realization  of  value.  Success  ^nd  the  feeling  of  success; 
mastery  and  the  feeling  of  mastery.  Suggestion.  Publishing 
intentions.  Penalties.  Putting  self  on  honor.  Thorough- 
ness. Hindrances  to  habit  formation :  Not  caring  enough. 
Laziness.  Lack  of  incentive.  Other  habits.  Difficulty  and 
complexity.  Unpleasantness.  The  pressure  of  time  and  other 
things.  The  tendency  to  feel  without  acting.  The  incom- 
plete learning  of  other  habits.  Breaking  old  habits:  Never 
permit  the  old  habit  to  function.  Remove  the  conditions  and 
suggestions  for  the  old  habit.  Develop  a  substitute  habit. 
Penalties.  A  new  ideal  coupled  with  strong  emotion.  New 
demands  and  responsibilities.  "Keep  the  faculty  of  effort 
alive."    The  habit  of  making  new  habits. 


table  of  contents  o 

Chapter  5. 

ACQUISITION  WHICH  INVOLVES  STUDY. 

Pages  63-75 
The  acquisition  of  knowledge.  Association  in  all  kinds  of 
learning.  Acquisition  through  the  senses :  observational 
learning.  Factors  that  determine  our  perceptions :  The  object 
itself.  The  contents  of  consciousness.  Mental  habits.  Phys- 
iological processes.  Attention.  Thoroughness.  Observation 
with  definite  expectation  ideas.  "Apperception."  Observa- 
tion for  complete  analysis.  Total  impression.  Learning  by 
trial  and  error.  Imitation.  Note-taking.  Acquisition  by 
reasoning.  Selection  and  organization.  Essence  of  reason- 
ing. The  problem  for  the  student.  Helps  to  habits  of  correct 
thinking.  The  value  of  ideas.  Age  and  learning.  The  value 
of  early  acquisitions.  Jost's  law.  Some  kind  of  habits  are 
formed  early.  Subjects  to  be  taught  at  different  ages.  Other 
conclusions  in  relation  to  age  and  learning.  Social  factors 
involved. 


Chapter  6.  \^ 

WAYS  OF  THINKING  AND  PITFALLS  FOR  THE  STUDENT. 

Pages  76-85 
Common  tendencies:  advantages  and  disadvantages.  Pre- 
disposition, or  prejudice.  Empathy.  Learning  by  trial  and 
error.  Imitation.  Partial,  hasty  observation  and  faulty  con- 
clusions. Careful  rather  than  fast  work.  The  tendency  to 
get  general  impressions.  Coincidences  considered  as  matter 
of  cause  and  effect.  Jumping  to  conclusions  on  the  basis  of 
too  few  facts.  Reasoning  by  analogy.  Reasoning  from  "what 
ought  to  be"  to  supposed  facts.  The  conversion  of  arguments. 
Originality  without  preparation.  Affirming  of  the  whole  what 
is  true  of  the  part.  Affirming  of  a  part  what  is  true  of  the 
whole.  Reasoning  from  incorrect  premises.  Proving  one 
thing  and  assuming  another.  Appeal  to  the  feelings  instead  of 
to  the  intellect.  Throwing  overboard  a  conclusion  or  belief 
because  the  arguments  found  for  it  are  bad.  Language  diffi- 
culties.    The  great  achievement  for  the  student. 


0  principles  of  learning  and  study 

Chapter  7. 

PROGRESS  AND  IMPROVABILITY. 

Pages  86-96 
The  universality  of  improvement.  Habit  and  the  law  of 
short-circuiting.  Regularity  and  persistence.  Drill.  Use  ver- 
sus drill.  Definiteness  of  practice.  Lower  and  higher  order 
habits  develop  together.  The  order  of  learning.  Correct 
practice.  The  critical  attitude  and  ability  to  distinguish  the 
correct  from  the  incorrect.  Thoughtful  practice.  Improve- 
ment of  methods.  Improvement  in  observational  learning. 
Feelings  of  satisfaction  and  of  dissatisfaction.  The  feelings 
an  unsafe  guide.  Physiological  conditions.  The  principle  of 
completeness  of  response.     Improvement  in  subnormals. 


Chapter  8. 
ARRESTS  IN  LEARNING  AND  THE  LIMIT  OF 

IMPROVABILITY. 

Pages  97-106 
Are  plateaus  necessary  in  human  learning?  The  curve  of 
learning.  Causes  of  plateaus :  The  nature  of  the  learner.  De- 
fective training.  Growing  complexity  and  critical  stages. 
Little  experience  in  higher  habits.  Improper  use  of  time  and 
effort;  poor  methods.  The  illusion  of  progress.  Avoiding 
and  overcoming  plateaus:  Observation  of  principles  already 
mentioned.     Forcing  one's  self.     The  limit  of  improvability. 


Chapter  9. 
THE  TRANSFER  OF  ACQUISITIONS:  GENERAL 

IMPROVEMENT. 

Pages  107- 1 16 
Most  improvement  is  specific.  Some  transfers  may  take 
place.  Factors  that  complicate  the  discussion.  The  nature 
and  amount  of  transfer.  Quotation  from  Ladd  and  Wood- 
worth.  The  conditions  of  transfer.  Quotations  from  Bagley, 
Judd  and  Pearson.  Transfers  and  the  choice  of  subjects. 
Choice  should  also  be  a  choice  of  teachers.  Studies  should 
call  out  our  best  efforts.     The  value  of  intensive  study. 


table  of  contents  7 

Chapter  10. 
MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION. 

Pages  117-131 
The  modern  conception  of  memory.  Memory  as  a  kind  of 
habit.  Not  memory  but  many  memories.  The  conditions  of 
memory:  Better  methods  of  learning.  Many  associations. 
Vividness,  frequency  of  repetitions,  duration,  recency  and 
primacy.  Accumulations  of  repetitions:  Meumann.  Jost's 
law.  The  "warming  up"  period.  Fatigue.  The  "hardening" 
period.  The  value  of  comparatively  short  periods.  Imme- 
diate and  permanent  retention.  Cramming.  Memory  and 
general  intelligence.  The  rate  of  learning.  Regularity  of  ap- 
plication.    Distribution  of  practice. 

Chapter  11. 
MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION. 

(Concluded). 

Pages  132-142 
The  nature  of  material.  Topical  study  and  topical  organiz- 
ation. Light  from  later  chapters.  The  whole  versus  the  part 
method.  The  mediating  or  emphasizing  method:  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  whole  method.  Size  of  units.  Order  of  learning. 
Size  of  units  and  the  length  of  assignments.  Silent  learning 
versus  learning  aloud.  The  attitude  of  the  student.  Artifi- 
cial systems  and  devices:  Mnemonics.  Mnemonic  devices. 
Forgetting.  The  curve  of  forgetting.  Reviews.  The  value  of 
reviews  in  learning  small  amounts  of  material.  Permanence 
of  acquisition  and  the  kind  of  learning. 

Chapter  12. 

MAKING  THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  STUDENT. 

Pages  1 43- 1 5  "7 
The  release  of  energy.  The  teacher's  work  is  to  arouse  and 
to  direct.  The  means  of  appeal:  the  native  and  acquired  dis- 
positions. Case  studies  of  successful  appeals:  A  tactful  re- 
auest.  Arousal  of  the  group  spirit.  One's  own  problem.  The 
feeling  of  usefulness.  Being  a  knight.  School  money,  bank 
books,  and  ownership.  Appeal  to  pride  in  one's  own  posses- 
sions. Winning  pupils  through  tact,  play  and  a  friendly  atti- 
tude. Army  organization,  and  reward  of  a  holiday.  The 
arousal  and  development  of  interest.     The  force  of  sugges- 


8  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

tion.  The  law  of  affective  expansion.  The  law  of  affective 
transfer.  Association  and  the  development  of  interest.  In- 
terest and  attitude.  Realization  of  use  or  value.  The  feeling 
of  need.  Interest  through  special  topics.  Interest  and  the  as- 
signment of  lessons.  Utilizing  manual  activities.  Use  of  the 
dramatic  tendency.  Sublimation.  Action  and  feeling.  Cen- 
tering interest  in  the  pupil's  activity.  Motivation  through  the 
activity  of  the  pupil.  "A  passion  for  your  subject."  The  de- 
velopment from  interest  to  effort. 

Chapter  13. 
ATTENTION  AND  SUSTAINED  EFFORT. 

Pages  158-174 
From  interest  to  effort.  The  need  for  attention.  Kinds  or 
stages  of  attention:  primary  attention.  The  conditions  of 
primary  attention.  Vividness  or  intensity  of  stimulus.  Change 
of  stimulus.  Novelty.  Familiarity.  The  concrete.  The  de-^ 
finite  and  concrete.  Secondary  or  "voluntary"  attention.  De- 
rived primary  or  habitual  attention.  The  conditions  of  sec- 
ondary and  derived  attention.  The  arousal  of  sustained  at- 
tention. The  driving  power  of  pain,  fear  and  anger.  Appeal 
made  through  the  removal  of  privileges.  Appeal  to  an  habit- 
ual tendency.  The  passing  of  secondary  into  derived  primary 
attention.  The  best  attention  is  had  with  slight  distraction. 
Hindrances  to  good  attention:  The  feeling  of  fatigue  versus 
fatigue.  Exciting  emotions.  Not  knowing  what  to  do  or  how 
to  go  ahead.  Lack  of  technique  and  of  instruments.  Bad 
suggestions  and  failure  to  try.  Self  government  and  sustain- 
ed effort.  Self  government  aided  by  school  paper.  A  teach- 
er's personal  interest,  trust,  and  right  direction  of  a  boy's  ac- 
tivities. Sharing  in  activities.  Pride  and  interest  in  one's 
own  achievement.  Appeal  to  sympathy  and  the  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility. A  position  of  responsibilitv.  Improvement 
from  within.  The  direction  of  attention.  Control  of  action 
through  control  of  attention.  The  direction  of  native  tenden- 
cies.    The  value  of  purpose.     Ideals. 

Chapter  14. 
FEELING  HABITS  AND  MORAL  EDUCATION. 

Pages   175-183 

The  feelings  and  permanence  of  acquisition.     Feelings  and 

action.     The  feelings  dependent  upon  action.     Associations. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  ,9 

The  development  of  interests.  Making  interests  permanent. 
Other  emotional  tendencies.  Imitation.  Moral  education. 
Will  in  moral  training.  The  type  of  moral  habits.  Moral  ed- 
ucation in  our  schools. 

Chapter  15. 
PHYSICAL  AND  PHYSIOLOGICAL  CONDITIONS. 

Pages  184-195 

Dependence    of    mind    on    body.     Special    defects.     Food. 

Air.     Temperature.     Humidity.     Atmospheric  conditions  and 

mental  work.     Regularity  and  efficiency.     Change  of  work. 

Fatigue.     Sleep.     Short  naps.     Health  and  social  activities. 

Chapter  16. 
THE  DIRECTING  OF  LEARNING  AND  STUDY. 

Pages  196-210 
Methods  of  teaching  versus  methods  of  study.  Results  of 
supervised  study.  Moral  value  of  home  study  habits.  The 
pupil's  failure  in  the  application  of  advice  for  method  of  study. 
The  teacher's  inability  to  advise.  Detailed  suggestions  to  give 
students  in  connection  with  improved  study.  The  teacher's 
responsibility.  Pupil's  study  card.  Suggestions  for  the  in- 
dividual student.     The  final  result. 

Chapter  17. 
SUPERVISED  STUDY  AND  THE  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM. 

Pages  21 1-22 I 
Methods  for  putting  supervised  study  into  the  curriculum 
outlined.  The  use  of  the  regular  teacher.  Use  of  a  special 
teacher.  Both  methods  valuable.  Separate  times  for  instruc- 
tion in  study  during  the  school  session.  Special  times  ap- 
pointed by  the  principal.  The  division  of  every  period,  part 
for  supervised  study.  The  double  period.  Study  confer- 
ences. Extra  study  periods.  Directing  study  in  the  general 
study  hall.  Essential  factors  in  the  administration  of  study 
supervision.  An  experiment  in  supervised  study  in  the 
schools  of  Athens.  General  suggestions  for  study.  Special 
suggestions  and  directions  for  the  study  of  special  subjects: 
How  to  study  reading.  How  to  study  history.  How  to  study 
science.  How  to  study  mathematics.  English  composition. 
Manual  training  and  domestic  science.  Some  results  of  the 
experiment. 


10  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

Cttaptpr  18 
DEFINITENESS  IN  AIM  AND  IN  METHOD. 

Pages   222-27,1 

Quotations  from  Snedden  and  Judd.  Social  Values.  The 
binding  force  of  tradition.  The  case  of  Latin.  The  question 
of  English.  Results  of  an  experiment  by  Professor  Mead.  A 
lesson  from  the  French  schools:  quotation  from  Professor 
Brown.  Other  facts  in  relation  to  English.  Some  conclu- 
sions. The  theory  of  specific  versus  formal  discipline.  A 
quotation  from  Professor  Snedden.  A  quotation  from  Pro- 
fessor Thorndike.     The  practical  conclusion. 

SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Page  232- 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  REFERENCES  USED  IN  TEXT. 

Page  232 

INDEX. 

Page  237^ 


Chaffer  1. 

Introduction. 
FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES  OF  EDUCATION. 

Purpose  and  point  of  view  of  the  writer.  It  is  the  purpose 
of  the  writer  to  deal  with  the  problem  of  education  from  the 
point  of  view  of  economy  in  learning  and  study.  The  student 
should  be  interested  because  his  problem  is  to  know  how  to 
learn  and  to  study  most  effectively.  The  teacher  should  be 
interested  because  all  teaching  must  be  true  to  the  laws  of 
learning  and  of  study  and  should  not  conflict  with  them.  If 
teaching  does  conflict  with  the  laws  of  learning  it  is  relatively 
ineff'ective.  Fundamental  to  knowing  how  to  teach  is  know- 
ing how  to  help  the  student  to  learn.  ^ 

Education  comes  about  through  the  learning  process.  The 
results  of  education  are  more  or  less  permanent  dispositions 
or  tendencies  of  some  kind.  We  may,  then,  define  education 
tentatively  as  the  making,  modifying,  and  remaking  of  more 
or  less  permanent  dispositions  or  tendencies.  It  will  be 
shown  later  how  these  permanent  tendencies  make  for  fixity 
and  stability  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  for  flexibility, 
originality,  initiative,  and  may  require  conscious  choice  and 
moral  reflection. 

Habit  a  convenient  term.  In  order  to  conveniently  express 
these  more  or  less  permanent  dispositions  or  tendencies,  mem- 
ories, habitudes,  habits,  interests  and  the  like  which  are  the 
result  of  education  we  shall  use  the  word  "habit."  This  word 
is  used  commonly  in  a  narrower  and  in  a  broader  way.  In 
the  narrower  sense  it  refers  to  the  more  or  less  mechanical 
tendency  to  act  as  we  have  acted  before.  But  it  is  used  com- 
monly in  a  broader  sense.  Thus  habit  is  defined  as  being 
"the  tendency  to  think,  feel  and  do  as  we  have  thought,  felt 
or  done  before."  In  the  broadest  sense  we  find  writers  speak- 
ing of  "habits  of  thought,"  "habits  of  liberality,"  "habits  of 
devotion,"  "habits  of  attention,"  "moral  habits,"  and  we  hear 
of  people  habitually  liking  or  disliking  this  or  that.  Habit 
thus  includes  attitudes  and  may  be  used  as  a  general  term  for 
all  more  or  less  permanent  tendencies  of  mind  and  body. 

11 


12  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

Habit  but  not  automatism.  Habit  is  thus  used  in  this  book, 
according  to  common  usage,  to  refer  in  the  broadest  kind  of 
way  to  the  permanent  acquisition  of  the  individual.  It  is  not 
to  be  interpreted  as  meaning  a  bringing  about  of  automatism. 
It  includes  this,  as  in  the  best  formed  acts  of  skill,  but  it  in- 
cludes much  more.  Making  an  individual  a  narrow  mechan- 
ical kind  of  person  could  never  be  a  satisfactory  or  adequate 
work  of  education.  Man  is  not  made  to  be  an  automaton. 
In  fact,  with  normal  people  and  any  right  kind  of  education 
there  is  no  danger  of  making  one  an  automaton.  The  fact  is 
that  fixity  and  plasticity  exist  together  in  the  organism.  The 
increase  of  fixity  does  not  do  away  with  the  plasticity,  though 
it  modifies  it,  and  brings  not  rigidity  but  elasticity.  (62). 
r  Habit  fixes  but  it  also  releases.  The  higher  centers  of  the 
/  brain  are  released  by  habit  to  deal  with  the  new  and  proble- 
matic, to  make  further  modifications  which  may  result  in 
habit,  and  to  permit  greater  and  greater  freedom  in  higher 
and  still  higher  mental  problems.  The  absurdity  of  the  idea 
that  habits  rob  the  individual  of  further  modifiability  is  shown 
by  countless  facts  in  our  everyday  observation.  Men  are  all 
the  time  shifting  from  one  thing  to  another,  from  one  view  to 
another,  from  one  attitude  to  another.  They  are  different  in- 
dividuals in  different  years  and  even,  sometimes,  in  different 
months  of  the  same  year.  Deep  set  habits  of  a  life  time  may 
be  changed  by  disappointment  in  love,  in  business,  by  great 
good  fortune,  by  deep  emotional  experiences.  The  facts  sug- 
gest that  more  and  not  less  permanence  would  be  better  and 
render  the  individual  and  society  more  stable  and  efficient. 

No  justification  for  education  which  does  not  make  perma- 
nent results.  Furthermore,  there  would  be  no  excuse  for  ed- 
ucation if  the  results  of  education  were  not  in  some  way  per- 
manent. If  tendencies  to  think,  feel,  and  do,  could  not  be 
more  or  less  well  fixed  in  the  organism,  the  efforts  of  teachers 
might  as  well  stop.  Just  what  these  permanent  tendencies 
shall  be  must  be  determined  by  society  in  terms  of  its  needs, 
right  desires  and  ideals.  And  the  aims  may  be  expressed  in 
broad  generalizations,  such  as,  adaptation,  social  efficiency, 
or  character.  But  we  attain  these  things  by  acquiring  the 
habits  and  by  later  modifying  these  habits  and  forming  new 
ones  to  bring  better  adaptation,  greater  efficiency,  the  higher 
I  development  of  character.  Social  organization  depends  on 
custom  and  custom  depends  on  habit.     Evolution  appears  to 


•1 

t  \ 


FUNDAMENTAL    PRINCIPLES    OF    EDUCATION  13 

provide  for  just  this  bringing  about  of  fixity  and  for  the  sub- 
sequent breaking  up  of  the  fixity  for  the  purpose  of  further 
progress.  Witness  the  change  from  plasticity  to  fixity  from 
infancy  to  old  age,  and  the  production  of  plasticity  again  by 
means  of  the  new  generation.  Witness  in  the  course  of  his- 
tory the  development  of  forms  in  social  usage  and  the  break- 
ing up  of  these  forms  or  their  modification  for  further  pro- 
gress. 

The  forming,  modifying  and  remaking  of  habits,  habitudes 
dispositions,  tendencies,  etc.,  under  the  guidance  of  ideals  set 
up  by  society,  seems  to  be  the  fundamental  work  of  education. 
The  theory  is  not  new.  Witness  the  work  of  Radestock  on 
"Habit  and  Education."  (83).  Many  will  accept  this  theory; 
others  will  be  disturbed  and  object.  It  is  worth  noting  that  of 
the  many  people  the  writer  has  asked,  none  has  been  able  to 
suggest  an  exception  to  the  statement  that  all  the  results  of 
education  are  habits  of  some  kind.  But  remember  that  habit 
as  defined  by  the  author  means  more  than  is  commonly  meant  \ 
by  that  term  in  its  narrow  mechanical  signification.  -"^ 

Only  results  in  the  individual^ealt  with  in  this  book.  Let 
it  be  fully  understood  at  this  point  that  the  writer  is  not  deal- 
ing with  the  results  of  education  in  society;  nor  with  the  ulti- 
mate results  of  education  in  the  institutions  of  society.  Here 
indeed,  we  may  find  other  things  than  habits  as  the  outcome 
of  education.  The  only  results  of  education  considered  under 
this  theory  of  habit  and,  for  the  most  part  throughout  this  vol- 
ume, are  the  results  in  the  individual.  This  point  is  of  the 
greatest  importance  and  must  not  be  lost  sight  of. 

Second,  and  of  equal  importance,  it  must  be  understood  and 
remembered  that  the  writer  has  in  mind  the  educational  pro- 
cess in  the  individual.  The  futility  and  uselessness  of  at- 
tempting to  give  a  simple  definition  of  such  complex  things  as 
education  in  its  many  phases,  is  fully  apparent  to  the  writer. 
There  is  no  attempt  to  deal  with  education  in  all  of  its  varied 
aspects.  The  attempt, — and  it  cannot,  perhaps,  be  too  much 
emphasized,  or  held  too  clearly  in  the  mind  of  the  reader, — is 
to  deal  in  the  most  fundamental  and  definite  way  possible 
with  the  educational  processes,  the  means  and  methods  of  di- 
recting them,  and  the  results  of  these  educational  processes  in 
the  individual. 

The  importance  of  this  educational  process  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. All  that  an  individual  is  or  can  be,  is  the  outcome 
of  two  things,  physical  heredity  on  the  one  hand,  and  educa-^ 


Li 


14  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

tion,  or  social  heredity,  on  the  other.  Educational  influences 
form,  modify,  change,  bring  about  the  most  desirable  devel- 
opment of  that  which  is  given  in  heredity.  This  process  of 
education  in  the  individual,  not  to  speak  of  the  education  in 
the  larger  sense  of  its  various  aspects,  ranks  with  the  few 
great  things  in  life,  L  e.,  the  process  of  getting  food  and  drink, 
that  of  getting  shelter  and  clothing,  and  of  obtaining  social  in- 
tercourse with  other  human  beings.  If  life  is  to  go  on  normal- 
ly, we  need  all  of  these  things.  But,  also,  if  living  is  to  im- 
prove from  generation  to  generation  we  are  absolutely  de- 
pendent upon  education. 

Education  compares  in  importance  to  heredity.  A  certain 
age  old  discussion,  and  the  fact  that  it  appears  to  be  as  far 
from  settlement  as  ever,  gives  evidence  of  the  value  of  edu- 
cation. I  refer  to  the  argument  as  to  which  is  more  import- 
ant, heredity  or  environment,  nature  or  nurture.  Than  being 
necessarily  thus  ranked  with  heredity  in  importance  in  the 
minds  of  men,  there  could  hardly  be  greater  evidence  of  the 
value  of  education,  nay,  more,  of  its  necessity.  To  recall  the 
debt  of  civilization  to  those  who  kept  learning  alive  during  the 
dark  ages,  or  to  refer  to  the  efforts  of  civilized  countries  to 
keep  open  their  schools  even  during  the  ravages  of  desolating 
war,  can  add  but  little  weight  to  the  overwhelming  evidence 
for  the  importance  of  and  need  for  education  already  cited. 
Just  as  surely  as  the  doing  away  with  the  results  of  physical 
heredity,  if  it  were  possible,  would  be  the  doing  away  with  the 
race,  so  the  doing  away  with  the  results  of  education  would 
be  the  doing  away  with  the  achievements  of  the  race, — civil- 
ization, efficiency,  culture,  and  what  not. 

But  we  hear  objections  to  and  adverse  criticisms  of  educa- 
tion. Yes,  and  again,  just  as  the  objections  to  and  adverse 
criticisms  of  heredity  are  in  reality  only  against  bad  heredity; 
so  are  the  adverse  criticisms  of  education  in  reality  only 
against  bad  or  mis-directed  education.  If  we  need  good  her- 
edity, so  do  we  need  good  education.  Or  better  still,  if  we 
work  for  the  best  heredity,  so  should  we  work  for  the  best 
education. 
\^~~~Still  another  fact  may  be  brought  forward  to  indicate  the 
'  importance  of  education.  Turn  to  the  anthropologist,  if  you 
please  and  realize,  that  in  looking  back  through  the  history  of 
the  race,  he  finds  it  impossible  to  discover  evidence  that  the 
physical  endowment  of  the  modern  man  is  any  better  than 
the  physical  endowment  of  the  most  primitive  man  of  whom 


FUNDAMENTAL    PRINCIPI£S    OF    EDUCATION  15 

we  have  knowledge.  To  what,  then,  is  his  advancement  due? 
To  the  results  of  the  educational  process,  i.  e.,  to  the  results, 
in  other  words,  of  social  heredity.  Or  grant,  if  you  will,  the 
very  doubtful  proposition  that  acquired  characteristics  can  be 
inherited,  that  the  modifications  of  the  body  cells  can  also 
modify  the  germ  cells  of  the  present  and  therefore  of  succeed- 
ing generations,  how  are  we  told  that  the  modifications  of  the 
germ  cells  can  be  brought  about?  Only  by  thorough  modifi- 
cation of  the  body  cells  through  many  generations.  Here 
again  the  necessary  resort  to  education.  ^ 

Importance  of  the  Habit  Theory.  Habit  formation,  modi-  | 
fication  and  remaking  as  the  basis  of  education  have  not 
been  sufficiently  stressed  as  principles  in  the  actual  work  of 
education.  And  if  the  Habit  Theory  is  inadequate,  it  still 
seems  that  inestimable  advantage  could  be  gained  by  begin- 
ning with  it,  and  carrying  it  as  far  as  possible.  Before  the 
work  on  reflexes  was  done,  no  one  probably  dreamed  of  the 
immense  light  it  would  throw  upon  more  complex  processes. 
And  if  educators  would  not  only  accept  in  theory  the  principle 
of  habit,  but  also  shape  their  work  in  accordance  with  it,  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  we  would  find  a  solution  for  many,  if  not  for 
most  of  our  so-called  higher  and  more  complex  problems  of 
education. 

Habit  a  universal  principle.  It  is  not  inappropriate  to  in- 
dicate that  this  principle  of  habit,  or  the  tendency  for  repeti- 
tion, is  fundamental  for  phenomena  other  than  those  found 
in  the  human  and  animal  organism.  y 

The  logician  tells  us  that  "Induction  is  only  possible  on  tlT^^ 
assumption  that  things  not  only  are  together  but  belong  to- 
gether  the  universal  nature  of  a  thing  cannot  be  discov- 
ered in  the  form  of  some  essence  or  substance  that  remains 

permanent  and  unchanging it  must  be  defined  through 

the  constancy  of  behavior  shown  in  its  changing  relations  to 
its  environment."  (19). 

But  even  more,  the  finding  of  things  happening  again  as] 
they  have  happened  before  under  the  same  conditions  is  at 
the  very  bottom  of  our  thinking  and  a  necessary  basis  of  all 
reasoning.  According  to  Pearson,  "Anything,  be  it  noted,  that 
tends  to  weaken  our  confidence  in  the  uniform  order  of  phe- 
nomena, in  what  we  have  termed  the  routine  of  perceptions, 
tends  also  to  stultify  our  reasoning  faculty  by  destroying  the 
sole  basis  of  our  knowledge.'*     (76). 

Jevons  writes  that  "It  must  be  the  ground  of  all  reasoning 


16  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

and  inference  that  what  is  true  of  one  thing  will  be  true  of  its 
equivalent,  and  that  under  carefully  ascertained  conditions, 
Nature  repeats  herself."  (45).  "We  must  always  rise  to 
something  which  is  general  or  same  in  the  cases  (of  induc- 
tion), and  assuming  that  sameness  to  be  extended  to  new  cases 
we  learn  their  nature.  Hearing  a  clock  tick  five  thousand 
times  without  exception  or  variation,  we  adopt  the  very  prob- 
able hypothesis  that  there  is  some  invariably  active  machine 
which  produces  those  uniform  sounds,  and  which  will,  in  the 
absence  of  change,  go  on  producing  them."     (46) . 

On  what  else  can  prediction  in  any  science  be  based  than  on 
the  assumption  that  what  nature  has  done  before  under  cer- 
tain conditions,  will  be  done  again  under  those  conditions? 
*'Every  law  of  nature  is  the  statement  of  a  certain  uniformity 
observed  to  exist  among  phenomena,  and  since  the  laws  of 
nature  are  invariably  obeyed,  it  seems  to  follow  that  the  course 
of  nature  itself  is  uniform,  so  that  we  can  safely  judge  of  the 
future  by  the  present.  This  inference  is  supported  by  some  of 
the  results  of  physical  astronomy."     (47). 

Habit  and  the  social  sciences.  Or  let  us  turn  to  history.  We 
are  all  accustomed  to  the  phrase  that  "history  repeats  itself." 
The  orders  and  speeches  of  Napoleon  to  his  troops  are  seem- 
ingly repeated  in  the  present  speeches  and  messages  of  the 
Kaiser  to  his  troops.  The  French  denunciation  of  the  English 
one  hundred  years  ago  appears  today  in  the  German  denunci- 
ation of  the  English.  The  treaty  of  Utrecht  and  the  reappor- 
tioning of  Europe  among  the  powers,  (1713-14),  finds  its  coun- 
terpart in  the  Congress  of  Vienna  and  another  reapportioning 
of  Europe,  (1815) .  We  may  ask,  will  this  analog  of  habit  ap- 
pear the  same  as  before?  The  present  war  completes  part  of 
the  repetition  of  events.  Will  the  reapportioning  of  Europe 
again  recur? 

Biology  furnishes  analogs.  Spencer  writes:  "A  species  of 
plant  that  has  been  transformed  from  one  soil  or  climate  to 
another,  frequently  undergoes  what  botanists  call  'a  change  of 
habit.' "     (92.) 

In  the  field  of  social  psychology  McDougall  tells  us,  "In  short, 
the  formation  of  habits  by  the  individuals  of  each  generation 
is  an  essential  condition  of  the  perpetuation  of  custom,  and 
custom  is  the  principle  condition  of  all  social  organization." 
(63).  Ross,  in  his  Social  Psychology,  also  shows  the  working 
of  this  fundamental  law.     (87). 


FUNDAMENTAL    PRINCIPl^S    OF    EDUCATION  17 

Sumner  in  his  excellent  work  in  social  science  takes  us  again 
to  habit.  In  the  preface  he  says:  'The  thesis  which  is  ex- 
pounded in  these  chapters  (chs.  1  and  2)  is :  that  the  folkways 
are  habits  of  the  individual  and  customs  of  the  society  which 
arise  from  efforts  to  satisfy  needs,"  etc.     (93). 

In  his  Laws  of  Imitation,  Tarde  (106),  writes:  "Repetition 
exists,  then,  for  the  sake  of  variation."  "Science,  as  I  have 
said,  deals  only  with  quantities  and  growths,  or  in  more  gen- 
eral terms,  with  the  resemblances  and  repetitions  of  phenom- 
ena  Every  advance  of  knowledge  tends  to  strengthen 

the  conviction  that  all  resemblance  is  due  to  repetition."  "In 
the  distant  future  all  social  phenomena  will  be  reducible  to 

mathematical  formula."  . . . .  " every  civilization  is  fated  to 

begin  its  endless  cycle  over  again."    "Everything  repeats 

itself,  and  nothing  persists."  ....  "Tradition  and  custom,  the 
conservative  forms  of  imitation,  have  been  fixing  and  perpet- 
uating its  new  acquisitions  and  consolidating  its  increments  in 
the  heart  of  every  class  of  people  that  has  been  raised  up 
through  the  example  of  higher  classes  or  of  more  civilized 
neighbors." 

Ellwood,  summarizing  the  studies  of  the  classicists  in  social 
theory,  says  that,  "Law  in  the  social  sciences,  then,  rests  upon 

the  fact  of  habit A  social  law  is  a  statement  of  the  habitual 

way  in  which  individuals,  or  groups  of  individuals,  interact.'* 
(26). 

In  the  realm  of  philosophy  we  find  Taylor  telling  us  that 
"We  should  . . .  have  to  think  of  the  'laws'  or  'uniformities'  in 
physical  nature  as  corresponding  to  the  habitual  modes  of  re- 
action of  the  sentient  beings Habit  and  spontaneity  would 

mutually  imply  each  other  in  nature  at  large."     (107). 

Habit  at  bottom  a  matter  of  physics.  Early  in  his  great 
chapter  on  "Habit"  James  tells  us,  "that  we  may  without  hes- 
itation lay  down  as  our  first  proposition  the  following,  that  the 
phenomena  of  habit  in  living  beings  are  due  to  the  plasticity 
of  the  organic  materials  of  which  their  bodies  are  composed. 

But  the  philosophy  of  habit  is  thus,  in  the  first  instance,  a 
chapter  in  physics  rather  than  in  physiology  or  psychology. 
That  it  is  at  bottom  a  physical  principle  is  admitted  by  all  re- 
cent writers  on  the  subject.  They  call  attention  to  analogues 
of  acquired  habits  exhibited  by  dead  matter.  Thus,  M.  Leon 
Dumont,  whose  essay  on  habit  is  perhaps  the  most  philosophi- 
cal account  yet  published,  writes:  'Every  one  knows  how  f> 
garment,  after  having  been  worn  a  certain  time,  clings  to  the 


18  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEAJINING    AND    STUDY 

shape  of  the  body  better  than  when  it  was  new;  there  has  been 
a  change  in  the  tissue,  and  this  change  is  a  new  habit  of  co- 
hesion. A  lock  works  better  after  being  used  some  time;  at 
the  outset  more  force  was  required  to  overcome  certain  rough- 
nesses in  the  mechanism.  The  overcoming  of  their  resistence 
is  a  phenomenon  of  habituation.  It  costs  less  trouble  to  fold 
a  paper  when  it  has  been  folded  already.  This  saving  of 
trouble  is  due  to  the  essential  nature  of  habit,  which  brings  it 
about  that,  to  reproduce  the  effect,  a  less  amount  of  the  out- 
ward cause  is  required.  The  sounds  of  a  violin  improve  by 
use  in  the  hands  of  an  able  artist,  because  the  fibres  of  the 
w^ood  at  last  contract  habits  of  vibration  conformed  to  har- 
monic relations.  This  is  what  gives  such  inestimable  value  to 
instruments  that  have  belonged  to  great  masters.  Water,  in 
flowing,  hollows  out  for  itself  a  channel,  which  grows  broader 
and  deeper;  and,  after  having  ceased  to  flow,  it  resumes,  when 
it  flows  again,  the  path  traced  by  itself  before.  Just  so,  the 
impressions  of  outer  objects  fashion  for  themselves  in  the  ner- 
vous system  more  and  more  appropriate  paths,  and  these  vital 
phenomena  recur  under  similar  excitements  from  without, 
when  they  have  been  interrupted  a  certain  time.' 

Not  in  the  nervous  system  alone.  A  scar  anywhere  is  a 
locus  minoris  resistentiae,  more  liable  to  be  abraded,  inflamed, 
to  suffer  pain  and  cold,  than  are  the  neighboring  parts.  A 
sprained  ankle;  a  dislocated  arm,  are  in  danger  of  being 
sprained  or  dislocated  again;  joints  that  have  once  been  at- 
tacked by  rheumatism  or  gout,  mucous  membranes  that  have 
been  the  seat  of  catarrh,  are  with  each  fresh  recurrence  more 
prone  to  a  relapse,  until  often  the  morbid  state  chronically 
substitutes  itself  for  the  sound  one.  And  if  we  ascend  to  the 
nervous  system,  we  find  how  many  so-called  functional  dis- 
eases seem  to  keep  themselves  going  simply  because  they  hap- 
pen to  have  once  begun."     (33).     (See  also  117). 

This  is  a  long  quotation.  But  probably  nowhere  and  at  no 
time  has  the  fundamental  and  comprehensive  nature  of  habit 
been  better  stated.  Two  other  principles  of  education  must 
_alsD  be  considered. 


Ideals  and  standards.  The  making,  modifying,  and  remak- 
ing of  habits  should  be  done  under  the  guidance  of  ideals  set 
up  by  society.  What  ideals  shall  be  set  up  is  a  problem  of 
the  philosophy  of  education  and  does  not  primarily  concern 
us  in  this  book.     At  bottom  it  is  an  ethical  problem:  what 


FUNDAMENTAL    PRINCIPLES    OF    EDUCATION  19 

should  be  the  sum  total  of  habits  of  the  educated  person,  the 
intellectual,  emotional,  and  motor  habits? 

Also  the  making,  remaking,  and  modifying  of  habits  should 
be  determined  as  much  as  possible  at  each  stage  of  education 
by  standards  determined  by  educators.  For  each  mental  age 
there  must  be  certain  standards  which  students  shall  be  ex- 
pected to  reach  in  each  subject  or  activity.  We  have  thus 
three  great  principles  of  education.  We  might,  of  course,  em- 
phasize needs.  But  it  is  assumed  that  the  needs  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  of  society  are  cared  for  in  the  ideals.  *"-- — 

The  three  great  principles  of  education.  The  fundamental 
working  principle  of  education  is  thus  seen  to  be  the  making, 
modifying,  and  remaking  of  Habit.  The  guiding  principle  of 
education  is  striving  towards  Ideals.  The  controlling  prin- 
ciple of  education  is  attaining  Standards.  The  ideals  may  be 
those  of  neatness,  loyalty,  accuracy,  clear  thinking,  perfect 
memories,  appreciation  of  the  best  in  literature,  art  and 
science,  the  best  kind  of  critical  judgment  in  a  chosen  field  of 
thought,  accurate  spelling  of  all  words,  perfect  rendition  of  a 
piece  of  music,  etc.  The  strivings  toward  these  should  reach 
certain  standards  determined  by  educators.  In  terms  of  these 
principles  we  can  give  a  more  complete  definition  of  educa-  >; 
tion.  Education  is  the  making,  modifying,  and  remaking  of  ^\ 
habits  under  the  guidance  of  ideals  and  the  control  of  stand- 
ards. 

It  is  not  inappropriate  to  say  that  inasmuch  as  the  making 
and  modifying  of  habits  is  the  modifying  primarily  of  the  ner- 
vous system,  there  is  nothing  more  fundamental  or  valuable 
for  the  teacher  than  a  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  working 
of  the  nervous  system.  In  all  fields  the  best  progress  has  al- 
ways been  made,  by  starting  at  the  bottom  and  working  up. 
In  education  the  way  is  not  to  begin  with  philosophy  and  work 
down,  but  to  begin  with  the  fundamental  processes  of  the 
nervous  system,  with  the  neuron,  and  work  up. 

The  means  of  Education.  All  the  inherited  tendencies  of 
the  organism  are  the  means  of  education.  The  extent  of  edu- 
cation depends  upon  the  capacities  that  physical  heredity 
gives.  Thus  the  fullest  knowledge  of  these  is  indispensible  to 
the  teacher.  All  the  methods  that  the  teacher  can  use  are 
methods  to  take  advantage  of  these  native  tendencies,  to  de- 
velop them,  to  make  the  most  of  them. 

These  methods  of  dealing  with  the  individual  for  the  pur- 
pose of  modifying  him,  that  is,  of  educating  him  in  the  most 


20  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

economical  way,  are  the  things  with  which  the  teacher  must 
be  most  familiar  in  the  actual  teaching.  Never  before  Juis 
the  demand  for  the  best  method  been  so  insistent  as  it  is  today. 
The  past  has  been  chiefly  interested  in  the  methods  of  teach- 
ing; the  present  is  specially  interested  in  the  methods  of  study- 
ing. The  writer  has  tried  to  present  to  the  teacher  the  results 
of  psychological  study  with  the  emphasis  upon  the  learning 
by  the  pupil.  Only  in  so  far  as  the  methods  of  learning  are 
known  can  the  best  methods  of  teaching  be  discovered.  For, 
ultimately,  the  ways  in  which  learning  goes  on  must  determine 
th^^jnethods  of  the  teacher. 

The  educative  process  is  then  essentially  that  of  making  and 
modifying  the  individual's  tendencies  to  think,  to  feel  and  to 
act.  As  long  as  the  educative  process  goes  on,  there  is  a  con- 
tinual remaking  of  the  individual.  The  process  of  remaking 
the  individual  so  that  he  approaches  the  ideals  of  his  people, 
is  the  process  by  virtue  of  which  he  comes  to  acquire  those 
ideals  as  his  own. 

The  greatest  needs  of  education.  The  greatest  needs  of  ed- 
ucation are  those  of  clearness,  definiteness  and  concreteness. 
The  lack  of  these  things  has  been  the  worst  kind  of  a  handi- 
cap. Vagueness  has  been  declared  to  be  the  greatest  vice  of 
education.  Variety  of  aim,  and  of  method,  and  indefiniteness 
of  end  product  which  may  be  observed  and  measured,  have 
for  too  long  characterized  educational  procedure.  Measure- 
ment of  educational  products  has  begun  and  it  is  of  the  great- 
est value.  We  need  some  principles  by  means  of  which  we 
can  understand  and  interpret  the  work  of  education,  and 
which  we  can  use  as  working  principles  for  the  direction  and 
control  of  the  educational  processes  and  for  the  measurement 
of  the  end  products.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  next  two  chap- 
ters to  show  the  teacher  how  three  great  principles  enter  into 
the  work  of  education,  to  explain  the  nature  of  the  great  basic 
principle  of  education,  and  thus  to  lay  the  foundation  for  all 
understanding  and  practice  of  directing  the  process  of  edu- 
cation. 

'  QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  Compare  the  principles  of  education  emphasized  in  this 
chapter  with  others  with  which  you  are  familiar. 

2.  Try  to  state  in  your  own  words  why  you  think  the  author 
has  chosen  to  emphasize  the  principles  indicated. 


FUNDAMENTAL    PRINCIPLES    OF    EDUCATION  21 

3.  Can  you  think  of  any  work  of  the  school,  which  is  worthy 
of  being  continued,  which  does  not  result  in  some  permanent 
changes  in  the  pupil? 

4.  Does  helping  the  children  to  harmless  enjoyment  con- 
stitute an  exception?  If  there  should  be  permanent  results 
here  what  are  they? 

5.  What  does  the  term  habit  mean  for  the  author  and  how 
is  it  commonly  used? 

6.  What  facts  can  you  state  as  to  the  importance  of  educa- 
tion? 

7.  Show  how  the  principle  of  habit  appears  in  various  fields 
of  thought. 

8.  What  are  the  functions  of  ideals  and  of  standards  in 
education? 

9.  Why  are  clearness  and  definiteness  so  much  needed  in 
education? 


Chapter  2. 
NEUROLOGY  AND  THE  BASIS  OF  EDUCATION. 

Purpose  of  the  chapter.  In  the  present  chapter  it  is  the  pur- 
pose of  the  writer  to  help  the  teacher  to  a  more  thorough  un- 
derstanding of  the  nature  of  habit  in  the  broadest  sense  of 
that  term,  and  of  how  habit  formation  and  modification  are  the 
fundamental  concerns  of  the  teacher  because  they  are  the 
fundamental  processes  in  education.  For  this  purpose  num- 
erous quotations  have  been  chosen,  partly  to  introduce  the 
reader  to  some  of  the  most  authoritative  statements  and 
studies  of  the  subject  of  habit,  and  partly,  to  show  how  funda- 
mental, adequate,  and  comprehensive  the  habit  theory  is,  as 
indicated  by  men  who  have  written  at  different  times  and  with 
different  interests.  Quotations  that  appear  in  this  chapter 
give  us  conclusions  of  men  who  have  written  from  the  points 
of  view  of  neurology,  of  pure  psychology,  of  educational  psy- 
chology^ and  pedagogy. 

This  chapter  should  help  us  to  see  how  whatever  one  thinks, 
feels,  or  does,  tends  to  become,  in  the  form  of  habit,  a  very 
part  of  his  being.  If  we  can  understand  fully  the  getting  of 
results  in  education,  i.  e.,  skills,  memories,  understanding,  in- 
terests and  appreciation,  tendencies  to  act  in  accordance  with 
certain  ideals,  and  all  the  rest,  we^  can  see  how  the  work  and 
methods  of  education  become  definite.  If,  as  Professor  An- 
gell  says,  the  processes  which  bring  order  out  of  threatened 
chaos  in  the  human  organism  leave  it  a  group  of  habits,  so 
perhaps,  education  may  be  brought  to  the  best,  clearest,  most 
definite  working  efficiency  by  thorough  conformance  to  the 
laws  of  habit. 

~~~  The  fundamental  nature  and  importance  of  habit.  No- 
where, perhaps,  has  the  fundamental  nature  and  the  import- 
ance of  habit  been  better  shown  than  by  Dr.  Carpenter.  "It  is 
a  matter  of  universal  experience,"  he  writes,  "that  every  kind 
of  training  for  special  aptitudes  is  both  far  more  effective,  and 
leaves  a  more  permanent  impress,  when  exerted  on  the  grow- 
ing organism  than  when  brought  to  bear  on  the  adult.  The 
effect  of  such  training  is  shown  in  the  tendency  of  the  organ 
to  'grow  to'  the  mode  in  which  it  is  habitually  exercised;  as  is 

22 


NEUROLOGY,  AND  THE   BASIS    OF   EDUCATION  23 

evidenced  by  the  increased  size  and  power  of  particular  sets 
of  muscles,  and  the  extraordinary  flexibility  of  joints,  which 
are  accfuired  by  such  as  have  early  exercised  in  g}'mnastic  per- 
formances  There  is  no  part  of  the  organism  of  man  in 

which  the  reconstructive  activity  is  so  great,  during  the  whole 
period  of  life,  as  it  is  in  the  ganglionic  substance  of  the  brain.  / 
This  is  indicated  by  the  enormous  supply  of  blood  which  it  re- 
ceives  It  is,  moreover,  a  fact  of  great  significance  that  the 

nerve-substance  is  specially  distinguished  by  its  reparative 
power the  study  of  psychology  has  evolved  no  more  cer- 
tain result  than  that  there  are  uniformities  of  mental  action 
which  are  so  entirely  conformable  to  those  of  bodily  action  as 
to  indicate  their  intimate  relation  to  a  'mechanism  of  thought 
and  feeling,'  acting  under  the  like  conditions  with  that  of 
sense  and  motion.  The  psychical  principle  of  association, 
indeed,  and  the  physiological  principles  of  nutrition,  simply 
express  the  former  in  terms  of  mind,  the  latter  in  terms  of 
brain — the  universally  admitted  fact  that  any  sequence  of 
mental  action  which  has  been  frequently  repeated  tends  to 
perpetuate  itself;  so  that  we  find  ourselves  automatically 
prompted  to  think,  feel  or  do  what  we  have  been  before  ac- 
customed to  think,  feel,  or  do,  under  like  circumstances,  with- 
out any  consciously  formed  purpose,  or  anticipation  of  re- 
sults. For  there  is  no  reason  to  regard  the  cerebrum  as  an  ex- 
ception to  the  general  principle  that,  while  each  part  of  the 
organism  tends  to  form  itself  in  accordance  with  the  mode  in 
which  it  is  habitually  exercised,  this  tendency  will  be  especial- 
ly strong  with  the  nervous  apparatus,  in  virtue  of  that  inces- 
sant regeneration  which  is  the  very  condition  of  its  functional 
activity.  It  scarcely,  indeed,  admits  of  doubt  that  every  state 
of  ideational  consciousness  which  is  either  very  strong  or  is 
habitually  repeated  leaves  an  organic  impression  on  the  cer- 
ebrum; in  virtue  of  which  that  same  state  may  be  reproduced 
at  any  future  time,  in  respondence  to  a  suggestion  fitted  to  ex- 
cite it The  'strength  of  early  association'  is  a  fact  so  un- 
iversally recognized  that  the  expression  of  it  has  become  prov- 
erbial; and  this  precisely  accords  with  the  physiological  prin- 
ciple that,  during  the  period  of  growth  an(l  development,  the 
formative  activity  of  the  brain  will  be  most  amenable  to  di- 
rective influences.  It  is  in  this  way  that  what  is  early  'learn- 
ed by  heart'  becomes  branded  in  (as  it  were)  upon  the  cereb- 
rum; so  that  its  'traces'  are  never  lost,  even  though  the  con- 
scious memory  of  it  may  have  completely  faded  out.     For,n 


24  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

when  the  organic  modification  has  been  once  fixed  in  the 
growing  brain,  it  becomes  a  part  of  the  normal  fabric,  and  is 
regularly  maintained  by  nutritive  substitution;  so  that  it  may 
endure  to  the  end  of  life,  like  the  scar  of  a  wound.'*  (14) 
(Also  34). 

I  These  modifications  which  result  in  habits  make  up  one*s 
'education.     These  facts  are  not  only  fundamentally  true  and 

'  vitally  important,  but  also  give  the  basis  for  the  much  needed 
definiteness  and  specificness  to  the  problem  of  and  procedure 
in  education.  This  it  can  do  by  defining  the  habits  to  be  form- 
ed, thousands  of  habits  of  spelling,  of  arithmetic,  of  French, 
of  German,  of  mechanical  acts  and  skill,  etc.  It  would  thus 
have  end  products,  i.  e.,  behavior  which  results  from  habits 
formed,  which  could  be  measured.     This,  furthermore,  is  ex- 

/  actly  what  is  measured  by  the  educational  examinations  and 

I  tests  at  the  present  time. 

Taking  certain  habits  as  the  ends  to  be  attained,  the  teacher 
could  have  a  clear  and  definite  idea  of  his  work  and  could  be 
able  to  look  for  the  particular  means  of  attaining  these  ends 
and  know  when  he  has  attained  them. 

Comprehensiveness  of  the  principle  of  habit.  While  this 
conception  of  education  is  fundamental  it  is  also  comprehen- 
sive. The  growth  of  our  perception  is  a  matter  of  habit 
formation;  perception  does  not  actually  take  place  until  one 
comes  to  associate  certain  meanings  with  certain  sense  im- 
pressions and  this  soon  is  habit;  memory  is  a  kind  of  habit, 
(65).  depending  upon  associations  which  tend  to  recur  again 
as  they  earlier  appeared.  Likes  and  dislikes  are  habits,  and 
if  we  could  not  get  our  pupils  to  habitually  like  and  prefer 
certain  more  worthy  things  and  actions,  and  to  habitually  dis- 
like and  refuse  other  things  and  actions  which  are  unworthy, 
we  might  well  despair  of  ever  raising  them  to  any  higher 
moral,  aesthetic,  or  other  levels  whose  attainment  depends 
upon  the  higher  feelings  and  sentiments. 

■^  The  formation  of  so  many  thousands  of  habits  as  the  aim  of 
education  is  only  a  more  clearly  defined  way  of  saying  that 
the  aim  of  education  is  the  development  of  character.  For 
character,  when  it  is  analyzed,  is  found  to  be  the  sum  total  of 
one's  habits  of  thinking,  feeling,  and  doing.  If  the  teacher  at- 
tempts to  follow  the  extremely  vague  and  indefinite  direction : 
Develop  the  characters  of  your  pupils,  there  is  no  possible  way 
in  which  he  can  go  about  doing  it  except  by  directing  the  de- 
velopment of  habits. 


NEUROLOGY   AND  THE   BASIS   OF  EDUCATION  25 

Prof.  Titchener  tells  us  that  "the  habit  imposed  by  education 
becomes  second  nature.  This,  indeed,  is  the  chief  problem  of 
education.  In  psychological  language,  the  teacher  must  find 
out  the  child's  natural  mental  constitution,  noticing  the  good 
and  bad  features  of  it,  and  must  seek  by  influence  of  all  kinds 
to  accentuate  the  good  and  minimise  the  bad.  In  biological 
language,  he  must  find  out  the  child's  natural  nervous  tenden- 
cies, and  strive — by  favoring  the  formation  of  good  habits — 
to  keep  the  right  channels  open  for  the  flow  of  mental  process- 
es and  dam  up  those  that  lead  mind  astray.  Natural  consti- 
tution and  natural  tendency  must  be  partly  reinforced  and 
partly  checked  by  acquired  constitution  and  acquired  ten- 
dency."    (116). 

The  work  of  the  teacher.  "All  our  life,"  wrote  James,  "so 
far  as  it  has  definite  form,  is  but  a  mass  of  habits, — practical, 
emotional,  and  intollectual, — systematically  organized  for  our 
weal  or  woe,  and  bearing  us  irressistibly  toward  our  destiny, 

whatever   the   latter  may  be Ninety-nine   hundredths  or, 

possibly,  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  thousandths  of  our  ac- 
tivity is  purely  automatic  and  habitual,  from  our  rising  in  the 

morning  to  our  lying  down  each  night the  teacher's  prime 

concern  should  be  to  ingrain  into  the  pupils  that  assortment  of 
habits  that  shall  be  most  useful  to  him  throughout  life.  Edu- 
cation is  for  behavior  and  habits  are  the  stuff  of  which  be- 
havior consists."     (42). 

It  is  then  the  concern  of  the  teacher  to  understand  what 
habits  should  be  formed,  to  learn  how  they  can  most  econom- 
ically and  most  thoroughly  be  developed,  and  to  train  himself 
in  the  technique  which  is  necessary  for  directing  the  develop- 
ment of  new  habits  and  the  modifications  of  old  ones, — i.  e., 
the  language,  arithmetic,  science,  aesthetic,  motor,  attentive, 
and  other  kinds  of  habits.  And  not  only  habits  which  appear 
in  external  behavior,  but  also  those  habits  which  are  internal 
and  may  never  be  apparent  from  ordinary  observation,  which 
may,  for  example,  result  in  inhibition,  in  refusal  to  do  the  un- 
kind, the  immoral,  or  other  undesirable  act  e.  g„  habits  of  de-  i 
cision.  ~^ 

Sullij  on  Habit.  Writing  on  habit.  Prof.  Sully  tells  us  that: 
"The  dependence  of  mental  development  on  cerebral  changes 
is  illustrated  in  a  peculiar  way  in  the  phenomena  of  habit.  By 
the  term  habit  is  meant  the  transformation  of  once  fully  con- 
scious mental  processes  into  semi-conscious  or  automatic  ac- 
tions, as  in  the  practised  actions  of  walking,  wTiting,  and  so 


26  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

forth.  This  result  depends,  it  is  evident,  on  the  perfect  co-or- 
dination of  certain  central  elements.  As  a  result  of  such  per- 
fect "organization"  of  psychical  actions  nervous  energy  is  lib- 
erated for  the  building  up  of  new  formations.     (96). 

Development  and  habit.  Mental  development  implies  not 
merely  an  advance  from  lower  to  higher  psychical  forms,  but 
a  growing  rapidity  and  facility  in  all  recurring  or  repeated 
processes.  This  result,  already  touched  on  in  connection  with 
organic  development,  is  an  extension  of  the  psycho-physical 
attribute,  retentiveness.  We  carry  out  accustomed  acts  of 
perception,  as  in  recognising  a  person,  customary  trains  of 
ideas,  as  in  learning  a  series  of  historical  events,  and  habitual 
actions,  as  in  swimming  or  skating,  more  and  more  rapidly, 
and  with  less  and  less  strain  of  attention,  just  because  of  the 
organization  of  the  traces  of  previous  like  actions.  So  far  as 
this  organization  comes  in,  the  conscious  element  grows  weak- 
er, and  tends  to  lapse.  To  this  extent  habit  would  seem  to 
imply  no  psychical  but  only  nervous  development. 

This  dropping  out  of  the  conscious  factor  as  the  consequence 
of  repeated  exercise  and  of  habit  is,  however,  only  one  part  of 
the  result.     The  tendency  of  repeated  psycho-physical  pro- 
cesses to  become  automatic  and  unconscious  sets  free  the  ac- 
tivity of  attention  for  further  processes  of  psychical  acquisi- 
tion and  growth.     Indeed,  it  is  only  by  this  economising  of  at- 
tention or  consciousness  in  the  case  of  habitual  processes  that 
the  more  complicated  psychical  processes  become  possible. 
Thus  it  is  by  learning  to  recognise  first  words,  and  then  groups 
of  words,  swiftly  and  automatically,  that  we  are  able  to  carry 
out  the  difficult,  complex  intellectual  processes  of  reading." 
I      Two  meanings  of  habit.  "Habit,  as  we  shall  see,  has  a  nar- 
I  rower  and  a  wider  meaning.     When  it  refers  to  the  rigid  fix- 
'  ing  of  ideas  or  actions  in  one  definite  order  it  is  a  force  that 
opposes  development.     Habitual  action  or  grouping  of  ideas 
means  action   or  grouping  which   is  altered  with   difficulty. 
I  This  is  seen  in  the  case  of  the  uneducated  mind,  which  is  nar- 
1  row  and  rigid,  just  because  it  has  formed  certain  fixed  modes 
5  of  associating  ideas  through  which  it  cannot  break.     But  taken 
in  a  larger  sense,  as  including  all  the  effect  of  repetition  of 
psychical  processes,  habit  is  an  integral  factor  in  the  processes 
of  development  itself:  for  it  is  only  by  retaining  the  traces  of 
our  past  activity  that  we  can  render  this   activity   more  per- 
[Ject."     (97). 


XEUROLOGY   AND  THE   BASIS   OF   EDUCATION  27 

"We  are  best  fitted  to  cope  with  our  life-surroundings  when 
Ave  are  able  on  the  one  hand  to  carry  out  all  recurring  uniform 
modes  of  responsive  action  easily,  simply  and  automatically, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  bring  to  bear  a  highly  evolved  reflec- 
tive consciousness  on  new,  difTicult,  and  complex  problems  of 
life."     (98). 

Comprehensiveness  of  the  habit  theory.  For  those  who  are 
used  to  thinking  of  habit  in  a  narrow  sense  there  will  undoubt- 
edly be  objection  to  making  habit  the  all  embracing  thing 
which  the  writer  is  attempting  to  do.  But  if  he  will  go  through 
the  pages  of  a  psycholog}%  such  as  that  of  Prof.  Angell,  he  will 
see  how  inevitably  habit  appears  as  the  result  of  the  modified 
nervous  system.  The  following  quotations  help  to  indicate 
this  inevitable  and  comprehensive  result,  that  is,  habit,  and  if 
there  is  any  result  of  education  which  does  not  fall  under  this 
head,  it  will  appear  to  be  an  exception  to  the  rule. 

Writing  on  habit.  Prof.  Angell  says:  "The  whole  course  of 
mental  development  could  truly  enough  be  described  as  made 
up  of  this  process  of  acquiring  habits,  which  once  imbedded 
in  the  tissues  of  the  nervous  system  become  the  permanent 
possession  of  the  individual,  ready,  when  need  arises,  to  step 
in  and  deal  with  the  necessities  of  any  particular  situation. 

Neural   habit ....  is   not  only   the   great  emancipator   of 

consciousness  from  the  necessities  of  endless  control  over  the 
same  trivial  round  of  acts,  it  is  the  great  tool  by  which  that 
feature  of  mind  which  we  call  the  will  executes  its  behests 
and  renders  our  mental  decisions  and  choices  effective  in  the 
world  of  action.  Without  habits,  consciousness  could  never 
get  beyond  the  borders  of  the  inevitable  daily  routine.  With 
habit,  however,  it  is  able  to  pass  from  victory  to  victory,  leav- 
ing behind  in  captivity  the  special  coordinations  it  needs." 
(3). 

The  formation  of  habits.  "It  shall  be  our  next  business  to 
trace  in  outline  the  process  by  which  consciousness  and  the 
brain  bring  order  out  of ... .  threatened  chaos  and  leave  the 
organism  a  group  of  habits  to  which  additions  are  continually 
made  and  by  means  of  which  the  organism  becomes  increas- 
ingly master  of  the  situation.  This  account  will  be  only  a 
sketch,  however,  for  all  the  rest  of  our  study  will  be  devoted 
to  filling  in  the  details.  In  the  chapters  upon  volition  we  shall 
return  specifically  to  these  very  points."     (4). 

Passing  over  these  pages  which  give  the  details  mentioned, 
but  to  the  most  important  (5)  of  which  the  writer  gives  page 


28  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

references,  if  the  reader  cares  to  look  them  up,  we  come  to 
Angell's  concluding  statements :  "When  we  bring  all  our  con- 
siderations together  it  becomes  obvious  that  the  proposition 
from  which  we  set  out  early  in  our  work  is  true  in  a  very  wide 
and  deep  sense.  Mind  we  have  found  to  be,  indeed,  an  engine 
for  accomplishing  the  most  remarkable  adjustments  of  the  or- 
ganism to  its  life  conditions.  We  have  seen  how  the  various 
features  of  cognitive  and  affective  consciousness  contribute 
each  its  quota  to  the  general  efiiciency  of  the  reactions  which 
the  organism  is  able  to  make  upon  its  surroundings,  physical 
and  social ....  we  have  discovered  volition  concerned  with 
iippulses,  with  pleasure  and  pain,  with  emotion,  with  ideas, 
with  sensations,  with  memory,  with  reasoning,  and  with  every 
form  and  type  of  mental  operation.  We  have  observed  the 
evolving  control  beginning  with  the  mere  mastery  of  move- 
ments, passing  from  this  to  more  and  more  remote  ends,  for 
the  attainment  of  which  the  previously  mastered  movements 
now  available  as  habitual  coordinations  are  employed,  until 
finally  we  find  the  mind  setting  up  for  itself  the  ideas  which 
we  call  ideals,  and  by  means  of  these  shaping  the  whole  course 
of  a  lifetime."     (6). 

Habit  is  fundamental  for  the  most  complete  kind  of  think- 
ing. The  teacher  should  realize  how  thoroughly  necessary 
habit  is  to  the  higher  forms  of  thought,  reasoning,  original 
,  thinking,  and  the  like.  Any  kind  of  thinking  whatever  ap- 
pears to  be  dependent  upon  just  this  elementary  law  of  habit. 
"I  shall  try  to  show,  in  the  pages  which  immediately  follow,*' 
writes  James,  "that  there  is  no  other  elementary  causal  law  of 
association  than  the  law  of  neural  habit.  All  the  materials  of 
our  thought  are  due  to  the  way  in  which  one  elementary  pro- 
cess of  the  cerebral  hemispheres  tends  to  excite  whatever 
other  elementary  process  it  may  have  excited  at  some  former 
time.  The  number  of  elementary  processes  at  work,  however, 
and  the  nature  of  those  which  at  any  time  are  fully  effective  in 
rousing  the  others,  determine  the  character  of  the  total  brain- 
action,  and,  as  a  consequence  of  this,  they  determine  the  object 
thought  of  at  the  time.  According  as  this  resultant  object  is 
one  thing  or  another,  we  call  it  a  product  of  association  by 
contiguity  or  of  association  by  similarity,  or  contrast,  or  what- 
ever other  sorts  we  may  have  recognized  as  ultimate.  Its  pro- 
duction, however,  is,  in  each  one  of  these  cases,  to  be  explain- 
ed by  a  merely  quantitative  variation  in  the  elementary  brain- 
processes  momentarily  at  work  under  the  law  of  habit,  so  that 


NEUROLOGY   AND  THE  BASIS   OF  EDUCATION  29 

psychic  contiguity,  similarity,  etc.,  are  derivatives  of  a  single 

profounder  fact."     (35) **From  the  guessing  of  newspaper 

enigmas  to  the  plotting  of  the  policy  of  an  empire  there  is  no 
other  process  than  this.  We  trust  to  the  laws  of  cerebral  na- 
ture to  present  us  spontaneously  with  the  appropriate  idea.** 
(36). 

"The  way  to  a  deeper  understanding  of  the  order  of  our 
ideas  lies  in  the  direction  of  cerebral  physiology.  The  ele- 
mentary process  of  revival  can  he  nothing  hut  the  law  of 

habit.'*     " But  even  though  there  be  a  mental  spontaneity, 

it  can  certainly  not  create  ideas  or  summon  them  ex  abrupto. 
Its  power  is  limited  to  selecting  amongst  those  which  the  as- 
sociative machinery  has  already  introduced  or  tends  to  intro- 
duce."    (37). 

Formation  of  new  habits.  In  another  place  he  writes,  "I 
have  been  accused,  when  talking  of  the  subject  of  habit,  of 
making  old  habits  appear  so  strong  that  the  acquiring  of  new 
ones,  and  particularly  anything  like  a  sudden  reform  or  con- 
version, would  be  made  impossible  by  my  doctrine  (the  doc- 
trine, namely,  that  "Education  is  for  behavior,  and  habits  are 
the  stuff  of  which  behavior  consists").  Of  course  this  would 
suffice  to  condemn  the  latter;  for  sudden  conversions,  how- 
ever infrequent  they  may  be,  unquestionably  do  occur.  But 
there  is  no  incompatibility  between  the  general  laws  I  have 
laid  down  and  the  most  startling  sudden  alterations  in  the  way 
of  character.  New  habits  can  be  launched,  I  have  expressly 
said,  on  condition  of  there  being  new  stimuli  and  new  excite- 
ments. Now  life  abounds  in  these,  and  sometimes  they  are 
such  critical  and  revolutionary  experiences  that  they  change 
a  man's  whole  scale  of  value  and  system  of  ideas.  In  such 
cases,  the  old  order  of  his  habits  will  be  ruptured;  and,  if  the 
new  motives  are  lasting,  new  habits  will  be  formed,  and  build 
up  in  him  a  new  or  regenerate  'nature.'  "     (43).  ^^^^^^ 

Habit  and  originality.  Nevertheless  from  one  quarter  we 
hear  that  the  originality  of  the  educated  man  has  been  spoiled 
by  the  college.  From  another  quarter  we  are  told  that  there 
is  no  one  so  set  in  his  ways,  so  inflexible  in  his  thinking  as  the 
uneducated.  The  fact  is  that  the  ways  of  the  educated  and 
Ihe  uneducated  may  become  fixed,  and  either  may  fail  in  ab- 
ility to  be  original,  or  what  is  worse,  to  accept  the  worthwhile 
oriainality  of  others. 

What  kinds  of  habits  are  necessary  to  keep  one  from  this 
init  of  stereotypy?     And  is  it  after  all  habit  that  is  to  blame 


30  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

for  the  inability  to  look  at  things  from  more  than  one  point  of 
view,  for  always- thinking  exactly  the  same  thing  and  doing 
exactly  the  same  thing  in  the  similar  situations  of  life?  The 
difficulty  is  not  in  having  these  habits,  but  in  not  having  other 
habits  as  well,  other  habits  from  which  one  may  choose  and 
thus  respond  in  different  ways  as  the  particular  needs  of  the 
situation  and  the  times  demand. 

This  may  be  shown  by  the  following  considerations.  Let 
us  take  on  the  one  hand,  the  man  who  has  thought  according 
to  one  point  of  view,  and  in  terms  of  one  theory  all  his  life. 
His  habits  of  thinking  are  fixed  and  his  actions  are  always  in 
accordance  with  this  one  fixed  mode  of  thinking.  On  the 
other  hand,  take  the  man  who  has  thought  out  the  same  prob- 
lems from  different  points  of  view,  i.  e.,  who  has  formed  sever- 
al habits  of  thought  where  the  other  man  had  one.  He  may, 
therefore,  act  not  merely  in  some  one  fixed  way,  but  in  one 
situation  at  one  time  one  of  these  habits  of  thought  may  gain 
the  ascendency  and  determine  the  action,  at  another  time  an- 
other of  the  habits  of  thought  may  win  out  and  determine  the 
response. 

Habit  and  plasticity.  Sully  tells  us,  "It  is  evident  from  our 
account  of  habit  that  it  is  essentially  a  process  of  fixation,  a  re- 
striction of  movement  to  definite  lines.  Habitual  actions,  just 
because  they  become  sub-conscious  and  largely  non-voluntary, 
are  rendered  stable  and  unalterable.  Habit  thus  presents  one 
aspect  which  is  opposed  to  all  that  we  understand  by  develop- 
ment or  progress.  Itself  the  product  of  development,  it  tends 
in  its  turn  to  obstruct  to  some  extent  further  development. 
We  see  this  in  the  difficulty  the  tyro  at  the  oars  encounters  in 
turning  his  boat,  rowing  with  the  one  arm  and  backing  water 
with  the  other;  and  in  the  common  failure  of  stout  resolve  to 
break  through  noxious  habits. 

While,  however,  in  its  narrower  and  more  rigid  form,  habit 
diminishes  the  plasticity  of  the  neuro-muscular  apparatus,  it 
would  be  an  error  to  suppose  that  it  is  wholly  an  obstacle  to 
progress.  This  would  overlook  the  range  of  the  principle,  its 
influence  in  cases  where  action  falls  far  short  of  the  automatic 
stage,  and  also  misunderstand  the  nature  of  motor  develop- 
ment. What  we  call  new  movements  are  never  wholly  new, 
and,  as  pointed  out  above,  the  perfect  mastery  of  particular 
movements  always  helps  us  to  the  mastery  of  others.  Thus 
the  movements  of  equilibration  and  locomotion  in  skating 
are,  as  every  learner  knows,  greatly  furthered  by  previously 


L' 


hef 


NEUROLOGY   AND  THE   BASIS    OF   EDUCATION  31 

i 

acquired  and  habitual  movements.  The  learning  here  con- 
sists in  a  few  and  comparatively  slight  modifications  of  old 
combinations  in  particular  directions;  and  though  the  modifi- 
cations may  be  difficult  through  the  obstructive  force  of  the 
previous  coordinations,  they  are  a  far  less  difiicult  operation 
than  would  be  the  learning  of  the  whole  group  of  movements 
de  novo."     (99). 

The  danger  of  too  much  fixity.  The  question  of  the  dan 
ger  of  too  much  fixity,  the  killing  of  originality,  and  the 
like,  may  always  arise  to  point  out  a  possible  bad  effect  of  ed- 
ucation, that  is,  of  the  formation  and  modification  of  habits. 
Occasionally  an  article  appears  in  which  the  writer  has  en- 
deavored to  show  that  our  original  men  are  men  who  never 
had  the  advantage  or  disadvantage  of  a  college  education; 
their  originality  was  not  taken  away  from  them  by  an  educa- 
tion which  fixed  their  thoughts  in  the  ruts  of  academic  think- 
ing, in  stereotyped  ways  of  looking  at  things.  Suppose  that 
for  the  majority  of  people  education  does  bring  about  a  good 
deal  of  fixity,  of  following  in  the  thoughts  and  ways  of  the 
teachers,  this  may  not  be  so  bad  considering  the  value  of  most 
of  this  much  vaunted  originality.  The  writer  hazards  the 
statement  that  for  every  list  of  men  who  have  produced  valu- 
able original  things  without  having  had  formal  school  train- 
ing, equidly  imposing  lists  could  be  made  of  men  who  have 
produced  things  of  originality  and  of  as  great  or  greater  value, 
who  have  had  this  school  training.  If  a  careful  comparison 
were  made  of  the  products  of  the  originality  of  men  with  and 
without  school  and  college  educations,  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely 
that  the  men  of  the  greater  amount  of  education  would  be 
found  to  have  produced  per  capita  more  things  of  originality 
and  of  lasting  value  than  have  those  without  this  education. 
The  originality  of  the  expert,  of  the  man  with  the  best  knowl- 
edge of  the  best  in  his  line,  is,  in  other  words,  likely  to  be  the 
most  valuable,  and  to  be  just  as  frequently  found.  As  has  al- 
rendv  been  said,  the  instability  of  the  individual  in  everyday 
life,  in  vocations,  etc.,  suggests  that  perhaps  more  and  not  less 
fixity  would  be  well.  A  recent  writer  tells  us  that  the  average 
length  of  time  a  man  holds  a  position  in  the  United  States  is 
less  than  a  year. 

No  necessary  danger  of  losing  plasticity  through  education. 
The  danger  of  losing  plasticity  that  is  sometimes  expressed  is 
not  founded  upon  tlie  facts  of  experience.  We  do  not  find 
that  the  man  who  has  practised  and  formed  many  habits  has 


32  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

become  thereby  unable  to  make  new  habits  or  to  modify  his 
old  habits.  The  most  highly  educated  people  are  not  found 
to  be  unable  to  accept  new  ideas.  True,  we  can  find  plenty  of 
cases  in  which  people  appear  unable  to  change.  We  find 
plenty  who  are  'set  in  their  way.'  But  we  can  find  also  many 
who  are  able  to  change  and  who  do  change  even  in  advanced 
years  of  life.  It  is  in  the  advanced  years  that  we  may  look  for 
the  fixity  that  does  not  change.  And  this  fact  of  age  is  the 
one  that  we  must  look  to  if  we  would  find  that  which  leaves 
increasingly  less  and  less  plasticity.  In  other  words  it  is  sen- 
ility and  not  the  number  of  habits  that  means  the  loss  of  plas- 
ticity. 

Even  the  reflexes  have  not  lost  all  plasticity  but  are  in  some 
cases  at  least  modifiable.  Angell  writes  "that  certain  of  them 
are  unquestionably  open  to  modification,  either  through  the 
direct  control  of  the  mind,  as  when  one  succeeds  in  suppress- 
ing a  tendency  to  wink,  or  through  the  indirect  effect  of  gen- 
eral organic  conditions."     (7). 

As  one  can  demonstrate  by  experiment,  the  winking  reflex 
can  be  practically  eliminated  by  practice.  Have  someone 
place  a  glass  immediately  in  front  of  the  eye  and  hit  the  glass 
continually  with  a  felt  hammer.  The  winking  finally  disap- 
pears. 

Flexibility  depends  partly  on  a  variety  of  habits.  Besides 
the  fact  that  plasticity  is  still  present  until  advanced  years, 
flexibility  depends  partly  on  having  a  variety  of  habits  for  sit- 
uations in  which  a  variety  Of  responses  may  be  desired.  And, 
from  these  habits,  one  should  have  the  habit  of  choosing.  This 
choice  may  take  the  form  of  choosing  partly  from  one  habit 
and  partly  from  another.  Moreover,  the  impulse  may  guide 
one  to  modify  some  old  habit  a  little  or  a  good  deal,  and  the 
original  comes  out  of  such  an  operation  if  it  occurs  at  all.  Re- 
member again  how  James  pointed  out  that  from  the  simplest 
thinking  to  the  most  complex,  we  are  dependent  upon  the  as- 
sociations and  what  they  can  suggest.  Education  can  train 
to  habits  of  looking  at  the  same  thing  from  different  points  of 
view,  and  of  reacting  to  the  same  thing  in  different  ways.  It 
may,  in  other  words,  by  developing  a  variety  of  tendencies  to 
react,  lay  the  foundation  which  avoids  the  inflexibility,  and 
which  helps, — not  merely  permits,— but  helps  to  bring  about 
j^  variety  of  possible  responses. 

Both  fixity  and  flexibility  are  desirable,  in  some  things  the 
one,  in  some  things  the  other  to  a  larger  degree.     Spelling, 


NEUROLOGY   AND  THE   BASIS   OF  EDUCATION  33 

multiplication,  addition,  and  many  like  things  call  for  fixity  of 
response.     The  choice  of  methods  of   solving   problems,     the 
taking  of  new  points  of  view,  the  accepting  of  new  ideas,  de- 
mand thought  about  such  things  in  different  ways,  i.  e.,  habits    \ 
of  thinking  and  of  acting  in  different  ways.  .  j 

Variety  of  response  a  peculiarly  human  trait.  We  come  to 
a  most  significant  thing  in  connection  with  the  human  being 
when  we  deal  with  the  more  and  more  varied  modes  of  re- 
sponse in  a  given  situation.  By  nature  man  has  the  possibil- 
ity of  more  ways  of  responding  to  situations  than  the  lower 
animals.  Through  education  he  may  find  more  than  he  could 
otherwise  know.  He  may,  in  other  w^ords,  through  the  chosen 
experiences  brought  about  by  his  teachers  discover  responses 
of  which  he  had  never  thought  and  of  which  he  might  not  be 
able  of  himself  to  think.  He  may  have  as  a  result  of  his  edu- 
cation very  many  tendencies  from  which  to  choose  instead  of 
only  a  few  or  of  only  one;  or,  he  may  hesitate  in  great  moral 
matters,  where,  before,  he  acted  on  some  primitive  impulse 
and  habit  arising  from  the  activity  of  that  primitive  impulse. 
To  hesitate  before  we  do  the  immoral  act  may  mean  that  we 
are  saved;  that  we  make  the  moral  decision  after  all  and  act 
accordingly.  So,  out  of  education  may  come  that  higher  re- 
sult, the  development  of  ideas  of  better  action,  from  which 
one  chooses  according  to  the  particular  situation  in  which  he 
is  placed.  This  is  a  peculiarly  human  thing,  that  an  impulse 
can  shoot  through  a  new  brain  path;  that  of  many  possible 
tendencies,  one  of  many,  instead  of  one  only,  may  function. 

The  varying  strengths  of  habits.  Using  habit  as  we  have 
broadly  defined  it,  that  is,  as  more  or  less  permanent  dispo 
sitions  or  tendencies,  we  find  tendencies  of  various  strengths. 
Language  supplies  us  with  terms  which  express  some  of  these 
degrees,  as  for  example,  inclination,  desire,  bent,  bias,  leaning, 
attitude,  disposition,  predisposition,  mood,  passion,  craving, 
automatisms.  Habits  of  all  degrees  of  strength  exist.  We 
mav,  perhaps,  for  practical  purposes  distinguish  five  degrees: 
1)  There  are  the  strongest  habits  which  we  may  call  automatic 
or  reflex.  These  are  habits  that  tend  to  act  invariably  on  the 
appropriate  stimulus.  They  include  tendencies  that  were  in- 
born and  have  been  often  repeated,  and  tendencies  that  were 
acquired  early  in  life  which  have  also  had  much  repetition. 
Things  learned  later  in  life  may  approach  this  degree  of  auto- 
matism, but  rarely  if  ever  reach  it.  Habits  formed  in  a  strict 
military  school  during  lour  years  and  repeated  daily  through- 


t      ene 


34  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

-  out  that  period  might  furnish  examples  of  this  order.  These 
are  quite  fully  second  nature,  so  to  speak.  2)  Well  establish- 
ed habits  of  adult  life,  such  as  professional  habits,  ways  of  do- 
ing things,  ways  of  looking  at  things,  affective  responses  of  the 
artist,  and  the  like.  3) The  fairly  well  formed  habits  of  life, 
such  as  the  things  that  are  pretty  well  learned  in  school  and 
college,  things  that  we  recall  but  not  perfectly,  activities  that 
we  can  perform,  but  which  need  considerable  practice  before 
they  are  prompt  and  sure.  4)  The  dispositions  that  may  or 
may  not  act  upon  the  proper  occasion,  that  depend  upon  re- 
cency of  practice  and  mood,  and  the  number  of  obstacles  or 
inhibitions  that  arise  to  hinder  them.  5)  The  weakest  tenden- 
cies which  have  relatively  little  effect  on  the  individual,  and 
which  tend  to  die  out  in  a  very  short  time  and  leave  but  the 
faintest  trace.  The  faintest  impression  probably  leaves  some 
effect  upon  the  nervous  system,  although  it  may  be  so  little 
t  for  practical  purposes  it  can  be  ignored. 

The  teacher  should  be  very  much  interested  in  the  matter  of 
the  strengths  of  various  habits.  Some  are  to  be  brought  to  the 
greatest  strength  and  others  do  not  need  to  be  so  completely 
learned.  For  .those  which  are  to  be  brought  to  the  highest  de- 
/  gree  of  strength,  there  must  be  the  most  frequent  repetition, 
unbroken  continuity,  correctness  of  response,  and  other  help- 
ful factors;  while  for  things  that  are  not  to  be  so  completely 
learned  and  mastered,  efforts  can  be  less  strenuous* 

Education  and  initiative.  Education  which  fails  to  arouse 
the  pupil  to  try  new  methods,  to  work  out  new  results,  to  act 
in  a  different  and  more  appropriate  way  in  the  varying  situa- 
tions of  life  would  fail  in  that  all  important  thing  which  we 
call  initiative.  There  is  education  which  spoils  initiative; 
there  is  also  education  which  arouses  one  to  take  initiative. 
There  is  education  which  makes  one  more  resourceful,  and 
which  helps  one  to  have  the  courage  to  try  the  new,  to  step  out 
of  the  beaten  road  and  to  make  a  path  that  has  not  yet  been 
tried  and  proven  safe.  Education  must,  among  other  things, 
develop  the  habit  of  taking  the  initiative. 

The  basis  for  this  initiative  has  already  been  intimated  and 
it  lies  in  the  tendencies  already  formed  in  the  nervous  system. 
We  found  a  few  pages  back  that  only  the  habitual  associative 
tendencies  could  give  us  the  ideas  from  which  to  choose  in  the 
most  complicated  kind  of  thinking.  This  with  some  feeling, 
impulse,  courage,  is  the  raw  material  of  initiative.  The  pos- 
sibility  of  taking  the  initiative,  of  doing  the  new  thing,  lies  in 


NEUROLOGY   AND  THE   BASIS   OF  EDUCATION  35 

having  a  variety  of  things  suggested  by  our  associative  pro- 
cesses; and  the  likelihood  that  we  shall  do  this,  lies  in  the 
habit  of  choosing  from  among  them,  of  combining  in  a  new 
w^ay,  of  trying  to  make  the  impulse  shoot  through  the  new 
path. 

Education,  in  other  words,  must  train  us  to  various  possi- 
bilities of  response:  along  with  these  we  must  have  formed  the 
habit  of  thinking,  reasoning,  choosing,  selecting,  and  then  act- 
ing, and  not  of  merely  responding  in  a  mechanical,  reflex  sort 
of  way  in  either  new  or  old  situations.  The  continual  forma- 
tion and  modification  of  habits  should  help  this  rather  than 
hinder  it.  They  should  predispose  the  individual  so  that  he 
may  tend  to  select  in  new  and  modified  ways. 

Types  of  habits,  habit  and  habtiude.  We  commonly  think 
of  habits  as  specific,  and  so  hundreds  and  thousands  of  them 
are,  such  as  the  specific  responses  of  the  individual  in  any 
skilled  act.  But  we  must  also  admit  what  James  has  called 
"general  forms  of  discharge,  that  seem  to  be  grooved  out  by 
habit  in  the  brain,"  such  as  the  tendency  of  our  emotions  to 
evaporate,  and  of  the  attention  to  wander.  Colvin  has  used 
the  term  "generalized  habit,"  for  those  habits  "which  are  com- 
mon to  a  number  of  difi'erent  stimuli."  Other  writers  use  the 
terms  "habitude"  and  "habitual  attitude." 

Although  we  shall  use  the  term  habit,  as  our  definition  per- 
mits, to  include  this  type  of  habitual  tendency,  it  is  most  im- 
portant that  we  distinguish  habitude  from  habit  in  the  nar- 
rower sense.  And  this  to  which  I  refer  is  not  a  kind  of  habit 
whose  development  is  correlated  with  a  dropping  out  of  con- 
sciousness. The  development  of  habitudes,  on  the  other  hand, 
may  actually  demand  definite  conscious  reflection  where  pre- 
viously there  was  none.  Sully  thus  makes  the  distinction:  In 
speaking  of  moral  habitudes,  he  tells  us  how  "The  prevailing 
motive,  for  example,  punctuality  in  fulfilling  engagements, 
now  passes  into  the  form  of  a  fixed  inclination  or  active  dis- 
position. Or,  to  express  the  result  another  way,  we  may  say 
that  conduct  is  brought  more  fully  under  the  sway  of  a  general 
rule  or  maxim.  This  result  is  what  is  known  as  a  moral  hab- 
itude  The  word  habitude  is  here  used  to  mark  it  off"  from 

'habif  in  the  narrow  sense  of  mechanical  response.  In  fol- 
lowing out  a  general  maxim   we   never   act   mechanically   as 

when  we  repeat  a  particular  kind  of  action our  actions^ 

may  be  organised  into  a  certain  number  of  persistent  norms 
or  types  of  conduct,  as  thrift,  temperance,  fulfilment  of  prom- 


L 


36  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

ise  and  the  like,  they  are  not  so  uniform  in  their  actual,  con- 
crete combinations  as  to  allow  of  our  particular  actions  be- 
coming in  the  complete  sense  habitual.  It  may  often  require 
a  good  deal  of  reflexion  before  we  can  say  what  is  the  honest 
or  the  just  course  of  action."  (100).  We  may  therefore  say 
that  while  we  commonly  think  of  habits  which  lead  to  action, 
we  have  also  habits  which  lead  to  thought. 

Habit  in  the  narrow  sense  could  never  be  the  satisfactory 
end  of  education  as  Colvin  well  says,  and  further,  as  he  tells 
us,  we  must  seek  in  education  "the  disposition  to  learn  new 
facts  and  acquire  new  habits."     (15). 

As  mentioned  above,  we  shall  for  convenience  use  the  term 
habit  to  include  habitude,  attitude,  disposition,  etc.,  and  to  in- 
dicate any  strength  or  type  of  habit  at  all. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  How  does  a  study  of  the  nervous  system  help  us  to  un- 
derstand the  work  of  education? 

2.  Show  how  habits,  in  the  broadest  sense  of  that  term, 
make  up  the  sum  total  of  the  results  of  education  in  the  indi- 
vidual.    Can  you  mention  any  exceptions? 

3.  How  is  thinking  dependent  upon  habit? 

4.  What  is  the  relation  of  habit  to  a  valuable  kind  of  origi- 
nality? 

5.  How  great  is  the  danger  of  losing  plasticity  through  the 
formation  of  habits? 

6.  Do  we  need  greater  or  less  stability  in  our  present  social 
and  industrial  life?  Cite  examples  to  show  the  truth  of  your 
conclusion. 

7.  If  fixity  and  flexibility  are  both  desirable  can  we  have 
both  at  the  same  time  in  the  individual?  Why  do  you  think 
we  can  or  cannot? 

8.  Make  lists  of  desirable  habits  of  different  degrees  of 
strength. 

9.  Explain  how  some  habits  lead  to  a  dropping  out  of  con- 
sciousness and  some  require  more  conscious  reflection. 

REFERENCES. 
R.  R.  Andrews.     Habit.     Am.  J.  Psychol.  14,  1903.  Pp.  121-149. 
W.  James.     Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psijchologij.     1904,  Ch.  8. 
W.  James.     Psychology,  Briefer  Course.     Ch.  10.     Or  Principles  of 
Psychology.     Vol'.  1,  Ch.  4. 


Chapter  3. 
THE  FUNDAMENTAL  WORK  OF  EDUCATION. 

Habit  is  fundamental.  In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have 
shown  how  the  formation,  modification,  and  remaking  of 
habits  are  the  fundamental  things  that  take  place  in  the  pro- 
cess of  education  in  the  individual.  Whatever  permanent 
changes  occur,  habits  of  some  kind  and  of  some  degree  of 
strength  are  the  result.  It  is  the  duty  of  educators  to  see  that 
the  habits  are  desirable  ones.  It  was  also  shown  that  the  re- 
duction of  the  results  of  education  to  habit  was  fully  compre- 
hensive and  adequate.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  writer  in  the 
present  chapter  to  show  how  the  principle  of  habit  formation 
and  modification  is  the  true  principle  underlying  all  advance- 
ment in  learning,  and  how  this  principle,  taken  as  a  practical 
working  theory,  has  certain  advantages  which  teachers  and 
students  cannot  afford  to  overlook. 

Habit  is  the  basis  of  progress  in  education.  In  the  first  place, 
and,  perhaps,  most  important,  habit  is  the  basis  of  all  progress 
in  education.  As  Professor  Titchener  tells  us  "Looking  at  life 
in  the  large,  we  may  say  that  the  period  of  training  or  educa- 
tion is  a  period  of  secondary  attention,  and  that  the  following 
period  of  mastery  and  achievement  is  a  period  of  derived 
primary  attention.  Looking  at  experience  more  in  detail,  we 
see  that  education  itself  consists,  psychologically,  in  an  alter- 
nation of  the  two  attentions;  habit  is  made  the  basis  of  further 
acquisition,  and  acquisition,  gained  with  effort,  passes  in  its 
turn  into  habit;  the  cycle  returns,  so  long  as  the  nervous  sys- 
tem remains  plastic."     (113). 

In  another  place  in  the  same  book  the  author  emphasizes 
the  value  of  practice  whose  results  are  habits.  The  passage 
is  too  good  to  leave  unquoted  and  its  significance  too  great  to 
overlook.  "In  psychological  experiments,"  he  writes,  "the 
practised  observer  has  a  threefold  superiority  over  the  un- 
practised: his  attitude  to  the  stimuli,  in  successive  observa- 
tions, is  more  nearly  uniform;  his  attention  is  sustained  at  a 
higher  level;  and  his  discrimination  is  more  refined.  This 
means  that  the  focal  mental  processes  are  few  in  number;  that 
they  are   extremely  vivid;   and   that  they   are   protected  by 

37 


38  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

strong  inhibitory  forces,  against  intrusion  from  the  outside. 

Habit  is,  in  general,  the  outcome  of  practice;  if  practice 

shows  us  a  nervous  set  or  disposition  in  the  making,  habit  is 
the  set  taken,  the  disposition  established;  the  plastic  organ  has 
hardened  in  some  special  way.  Like  practice,  habit  in  its 
early  stages  requires  attention;  but  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  a 
habit  may  be  formed,  not  only  by  the  repetition  that  practice 
brings,  but  also  by  any  single  stimulus  that  violently  impress- 
es the  nervous  system;  the  plastic  mechanism  may  be  thrown, 
by  a  sudden  wrench,  into  a  new  and  permanent  arrangement; 
just  as  we  may  give  a  permanent  bend  to  a  fencing  foil  by  a 
single  violent  lunge.  We  have  already  seen,  in  our  discussion 
of  the  development  of  attention  (pp.  98-99),  that  habits  al- 
ready formed  are  the  basis  of  new  acquisition;  and  we  may 
remark  in  passing  that  the  moral  and  practical  importance  of 
habit  has  often  been  written  upon  and  can  hardly  be  overes- 
timated."    (114). 

I  Progress  to  higher  stages  of  efficiency.  Progress,  if  we  look 
at  the  matter  in  the  large,  means  breaking  up  one's  present  ef- 
ficiency in  order  to  raise  him  to  a  higher  stage  of  efficiency. 
More  in  detail,  this  means  the  modifying  of  old  habits,  of 
thinking,  of  feeling,  and  of  acting,  as  well  as  the  making  of 
new  ones.  It  means  the  improvement  of  methods.  It  in- 
cludes the  raising  of  ideals  and  stimulating  one  to  striving 
harder  for  the  attaining  of  results  in  the  direction  of  these 
ideals.     Work  must  proceed  on  a  higher  level. 

Progress  and  modifying  the  old  habits.  The  fact  that  old 
habits  can  be  modified,  that  they  are  not  unalterable,  that  they 
need  not  leave  us  unchangeable  in  our  responses,  is  almost 
too  well  known  in  everyone's  experience  and  observation  to 
need  mention.  I  know,  for  example,  of  a  man  who  practised 
law  until  he  was  over  fifty  years  of  age  and  was  then  called  to 
be  head  of  a  large  university.  According  to  his  own  state- 
ment, the  first  year  called  for  the  making  of  many  new  habits 
and  the  modifying  of  old  habits  so  that  the  new  work  could  go 
on  in  the  same  habitual  way  in  which  the  law  work  had  gone. 
But  the  changes  were  made  and  the  new  work  was  done  later 
in  the  same  easy  habitual  way  as  the  law  work  had  been  done. 
We  can  all,  no  doubt,  cite  many  examples  of  this  kind  of  thing. 
A  shift  from  one  kind  of  position  requires  a  great  many  new 
habits  and  the  modifying  of  many  old  habits, — but,  and  here 
is  the  essential  point, — the  change  can  and  does  come.  The 
old  habits  do  not  leave  us  merely  fixed  and  hardened.     The 


THE    FUNDAMENTAL    WORK    OF    EDUCATION  39 

habits  which  are  already  made  are  the  foundations  for  the 
necessary  changes,  without  which  the  adaptation  to  the  new 
kind  of  work  would  be  even  more  difficult. 

A  quotation  from  the  study  of  typewriting  will  show  how 
this  change  goes  on  in  the  process  of  learning.  Professor 
Book,  in  his  excellent  monograph  on  The  Psychology  of  Skill, 
writes  as  follows:  "Besides  determining,  the  special  habits  of 
every  kind  and  order  involved  in  the  mastery  of  typewriting 
and  showing  concretely,  by  a  minute  history  of  the  learning 
process,  how  these  habits  were  developed  and  perfected  as 
successively  organized  and  recombined  into  associations  and 
habits  that  bring  the  learner  always  more  directly  and  econ- 
omicallv  to  his  goal,  this  study  has  shown  the  important  role 
played  in  the  learning  by  effort  and  hygiene. 

"Two  facts  stand  out  above  all  the  rest:  1)  All  special  habits 
and  associations  involved  in  the  mastery  of  typewriting  must 
be  carefully  perfected.  2)  They  must  then  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible he  outgrown  and  give  way  to  higher  and  more  direct 
habits  of  writing.  Bryan  and  Harter  were  right  when  they 
said:  'We  believe  that  by  no  device  is  it  possible  to  gain  free- 
dom in  using  the  higher-order  habits  until  the  lower  have 
been  so  well  mastered  that  attention  is  not  diverted  by  them.' 
They  suggested  a  truth  of  still  greater  importance  when  they 
added :  *It  is,  nevertheless  wise  at  all  times  to  practise  with  the 
highest  units  possible,  and  thus  learn  all  the  units  in  their 
proper  setting.'  The  older  elementary  habits  tend  naturally 
and  strongly  to  persist  and  must  be  left  behind  as  rapidly  as 
possible  to  prevent  arrest.  To  try  to  crowd  ahead  before  the 
elementary  habits  are  sufficiently  mastered  to  make  safe  the 
taking  of  a  forward  step,  or  to  fail  to  perfect  the  elemental  as- 
sociations which  must  be  combined  to  form  the  higher  and 
more  direct  methods  of  writing,  is  fatal  to  progress  or  inter- 
est."    (10). 

Other  points  appear  in  the  above  quotation,  but  of  interest 
in  this  Connection  are  the  facts  that  the  fundamental  things 
are  luibits,  and  that  progress  depends  upon  them.  These  hab- 
its can  and  must  change,  just  as  surely  as  they  are  necessary 
as  foundation  habits. 

Education  and  the  development  of  permanent  desires  and 
interests.  It  cannot,  perhaps,  be  too  much  emphasized  that  a 
part,  and  an  essential  part  of  the  work  of  education  is  to  de- 
velop permanent  desires  and  interests.  Not  only  to  read  good 
literature  but  to  have  a  permanent  interest  in  good  literature. 


40  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

Not  only  to  be  neat  or  accurate  or  careful  when  required,  but 
to  develop  the  desire  to  be  neat,  accurate,  and  careful.  And 
not  only  to  have  the  idea  of  these  things,  and  the  permanent 
desire  to  attain  them,  but  to  try  to  do  so,  in  order  that  the  de- 
sired educational  result,  z.  e.,  the  permanent  tendency  to  think, 
feel,  and  do  these  things,  may  be  accomplished,  so  far  as  pos- 

\5ible.  These,  also,  are  fundamental  to  progress.  What  would 
one  accomplish  without  a  passion  for  his  work?  This  very 
lack  of  passion  for  work  is  the  cause  of  much  mediocre  per- 
formance. 

Fundamental  nature  and  comprehensiveness  of  the  habit 
theory.  If  we  look  back  over  the  facts  brought  out  in  the  first 
chapter  we  will  see  that  the  theory  has  the  advantage  of  bring- 
ing us  to  the  fundamental  elements  of  the  learning  process. 
Such  a  procedure  cannot  do  other  than  help  us  to  a  better  un- 
derstanding of  education.  One  of  the  most  common,  and  al- 
so, perhaps,  one  of  the  wisest  pieces  of  advice  given  to  begin- 
ners in  whatever  field  it  may  be,  is  to  start  at  the  bottom  and 
work  up.  Beginning  with  a  study  of  the  original  inherited 
disposition,  the  native  tendencies,  and  learning  how  to  make 
them  into  the  desirable  thought,  feeling  and  volitional  dispo- 
sitions is  doing  just  this  thing  in  the  field  of  education. 

As"  to  the  comprehensiveness  of  the  principle  it  is  not  a 
small  thing  for  the  teacher  to  realize  that  all  results  of  the 
learning  process  come  only  in  conformance  to  the  laws  of 
habit  formation.  Wherever  economy  is  to  be  had  it  is  to  be 
had  only  when  there  is  conformance  to  these  laws.  Disregard 
of  them  and  opposition  to  them  cause  unnecessary  waste  for 

^Lolh  the  student  and  the  teacher. 
|~T^  gives  definiteness  to  the  work  of  the  teacher.  No  one 
thing  more  than  definiteness  is  needed  in  the  school.  And 
nothing  more  than  the  thorough  application  of  the  habit  prin- 
ciple to  all  phases  of  education  will  help  to  this  great  end. 
The  great  aims  of  education  whatever  they  are  can  be  inter- 
preted in  terms  of  habits.  The  methods  of  the  teacher,  the 
technique  necessary  for  successful  teaching,  can  be  definitely 
worked  out  for  the  work  of  forming  and  modifying  original 
nature  so  as  to  make  the  desirable  permanent  dispositions. 
In  fact  the  more  general  statements  of  the  aim  and  work  of 
education  can  be  dealt  with  in  the  school  in  no  other  way.  To 
develop  character,  social  efficiency,  to  prepare  for  enjoyment 
of  life,-  to  make  one  ready  for  one's  vocation  or  profession  can 
be  done,  but  it  cannot  be  done  in  general  or  in  the  abstract. 


L! 


THE    FUNDAMENTAL    WORK    OF    EDUCATION  41 

These  results  are  big  complex  things  and  must  be  dealt  with 
by  dealing  with  the  elements  that  constitute  them.  The  ele- 
ments are  thousands  of  habits.  The  habits  are  habits  of 
thought,  of  feeling  and  of  action.  These  the  teacher  can  deal 
with  definitely  and  can  prepare  himself  to  deal  with.  Think- 
ing, feeling,  and  doing  this,  and  this  and  this,  and  in  this  way, 
and  that  way  and  the  other  way,  is  specifically  and  definitely 
what  the  teacher  can  deal  with.  And  he  can  do  it  with  the  as- 
surance that  this  thinking  and  feeling  and  doing  will  deter- 
mine the  general  outcome. 

Habits  result  in  character.  There  is  nothing  more  true  than 
that  the  definite  bits  of  work  and  application  that  the  teacher 
gets  the  student  to  do  become  the  very  texture  of  his  life.  Note 
what  James  says  in  this  connection  and  note  also  that  he 
speaks  not  merely  of  that  which  concerns  skill  or  more  mech- 
anical habitual  things  but  of  the  most  complex  thought  pro- 
cesses. 

"As  we  become  permanent  drunkards  by  so  many  separate 
drinks,"  he  writes,  "so  we  become  saints  in  the  moral,  and 
authorities  and  experts  in  the  practical  and  scientific  spheres, 
by  so  many  separate  acts  and  hours  of  work.  Let  no  youth 
have  any  anxiety  about  the  upshot  of  his  education,  whatever 
the  line  of  it  may  be.  If  he  keep  faithfully  busy  each  hour  of 
the  working  day,  he  may  safely  leave  the  final  result  to  itself. 
He  can  with  perfect  certainty  count  on  waking  up  some  fine 
morning,  to  find  himself  one  of  the  competent  ones  of  his 
generation,  in  whatever  pursuit  he  may  have  singled  out. 
Silently,  between  all  the  details  of  his  business,  the  power  of 
judging  in  all  that  class  of  matter  will  have  built  itself  up  with- 
in him  as  a  possession  that  will  never  pass  away.  Young 
people  should  know  this  truth  in  advance.  The  ignorance  of 
it  has  probably  engendered  more  discouragement  and  faint- 
heartedness in  youths  embarking  on  arduous  careers  than  all 
other  causes  put  together."     (40). 

And  it  may  be  said  also  that  for  the  teacher,  much  of  his 
work  has  been  indefinite,  and  without  sufficient  knowledge 
and  understanding  of  aim  and  method  and  results.  With  a 
proper  understanding  of  these  elements  with  which  he  is  deal- 
ing he  should  be  better  able  to  attain  that  which  is  the  greatest 
need  in  education  today,  namely,  definiteness  of  aim  and  pro- 
cedure, and  in  the  getting  of  end  results  that  can  be  measured. 
The  general  aims  are  thus  analyzed  into  definite  working 
aims. 


42  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

It  gives  the  basis  for  scientific  treatment  and  measurement. 
This  treatment  of  the  results  of  education  also  gives  the  ele- 
ments that  can  be  dealt  with  in  a  scientific  manner.  All  that 
can  be  measured  and  all  that  is  being  measured  by  education- 
al tests  is  behavior,  and  habits  are  the  stuff  of  which  behavior 
is  made.  It  may  be  that  some  of  the  higher  moral  and  aesthe- 
tic attitudes  cannot  be  measured,  or  at  least,  that  they  cannot 
be  measured  in  the  same  way  that  intellectual  and  motor 
habits  of  many  kinds  can.  Difficulty  with  some  of  the  more 
elusive  results  is  no  reason  to  fail  with  the  quantitative  treat- 
ment of  the  results  that  can  be  ineasured. 

Looking  over  the  results  of  some  of  the  school  surveys  that 
have  been  made  one  may  see  how  often  this  quantitative  treat- 
ment has  helped  to  point  out  the  places  where  particular  qual- 
itative defects  appear  in  the  work  of  certain  teachers.  The 
quantitative  work,  does  not,  then,  in  any  way,  take  the  place 
of,  or  displace  qualitative  work.  It  supplements  it  and  it  is 
the  direct  scientific  way  of  getting  at  the  places  where  quality 
of  work  is  poor.  The  teacher  will  find  that  such  a  study  of  all 
the  work  of  teachers  in  a  school  will  be  much  more  just  to  each 
one  than  the  old  method  of  making  personal  judgments. 

It  reduces  all  education  to  the  same  terms.  Whatever  of 
value  comes  from  a  fundamental  principle  and  reducing  of 
large  and  various  activities  to  the  same  terms  appears  in  the 
reducing  of  the  results  of  education  to  habits.  There  is  here 
a  unifying  principle.  The  teacher  should  be  helped  to  see  the 
far  reaching  significance  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  habit  for 
all  his  work.  There  should  come  a  much  greater  simplifica- 
tion of  many  complex  matters  and  more  clarity  in  the  under- 
standing of  them.  The  interpretation  of  all  education  in 
terms  of  habit  should  help  the  teacher  to  avoid  many  of  the 
violations  of  the  laws  of  habit  that  are  all  too  common  in  the 
schools  of  today. 

Psychological  factors  necessary  to  habit  formation.  The 
emphasis  of  these  factors  is  more  significant  than  may  at  first 
appear.  We  cannot  merely  look  at  end  results.  We  cannot 
merely  think  of  stimuli  and  responses.  Successful  direction 
of  habit  formation  requires  a  knowledge  of  the  conscious  fac- 
tors, the  intellectual  and  emotional  factors  that  enter  in  prac- 
tice. The  presence  of  ideals,  knowledge  of  successes  and  fail- 
ures, intention  to  remember,  attitude  of  the  learner,  determin- 
ation, knowledge  of  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it,  etc.,  all  are 


THE    FUNDAMENTAL    WORK    OF    EDUCATION  43 

important  in  the  economy  of  learning.     Later  pages  will  show 
how  these  and  kindred  factors  are  all  important. 

Manifold  nature  of  the  teacher's  work.  A  further  advan- 
tage of  this  habit  theory  of  education,  emphasizing  as  it  does, 
the  various  kinds  of  habits  to  be  formed,  lies  in  its  pointing 
out  clearly  the  manifold  nature  of  the  teacher's  work.  If  thfe 
teaching  is  merely  informational,  instructional,  it  is  inade- 
quate, as  this  type  of  teaching  deals  only  or  at  least  for  the 
most  part,  with  the  habits  of  thought.  There  must  also  be  the 
inspirational,  the  arousing,  the  stimulating,  for  the  purpose  of 
developing  the  feeling  habits,  and  habitudes.  And,  finally^ 
there  must  be  such  instructing  and  arousing  as  will  result  in 
the  motor  conclusion,  the  tendency  to  act  appropriately  in  the 
various  situations  for  which  education  succeeds  in  preparing 
the  individual. 

Other  aims  of  education  included  and  refined.  This  view 
of  education  also  includes  and  makes  definite  the  various  aims 
of  education  with  which  we  are  familiar.  Adaptation,  social 
efilciency,  the  formation  of  character,  etc.  These  aims  are  to 
be  attained  through  the  formation  of  the  appropriate  habits. 
Adaptation  comes  only  through  the  forming  and  modifying 
of  habits.  Whatever  efficiency  one  has  is  the  result  of  prac-^ 
tice,  and  the  outcome  of  practice  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
habit. 

The  principle  is  true  for  the  highest  results  at  which  educa- 
tion can  aim.  Sully  long  ago  emphasized  the  place  of  habit 
in  moral  character,  and  we  can  perhaps,  do  no  better  than  ta 
quote  a  few  sentences  from  his  pages  concerning  moral  char- 
acter and  the  education  of  the  will.  "The  height  of  moral 
character,"  he  writes,  "attained  in  any  case  is  thus  determined 
by  the  ft.ritij  and  the  commanding  influence  of  the  virtuous 
disposition,  which  again  is  measurable  in  terms  of  the  facility, 
or  absence  of  conscious  effort,  of  the  controlling  process." 
(101). 

This  he  writes  under  the  caption  of  "Character  as  organized 
Habit."  On  the  education  of  the  will,  he  writes,  "As  we  have 
seen  in  dealing  with  the  several  forms  of  self-control,  and 
more  especially  with  the  phenomena  of  moral  effort,  the  spe- 
cial direction  of  attention  to  an  idea  serves  to  modify  its  feel- 
ing-value, and  so  its  motive  force.  Education  of  will,  in  the 
sense  of  developing  one's  character,  turns  on  this  fact.  If  only 
a  desire  to  be  better  exists  we  can  ourselves  contribute  towards 
the  improvement  by  furthering  from  time  to  time  the  rein- 


44  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

statement  of  the  appropriate  motives  so  as  to  fix  them  as  dom- 
inant forces.     (102) . 

Disadvantages  of  the  term  habit.  The  term  habit  in  too 
many  minds  suggests  only  the  narrow  mechanical  action  of 
the  individual.  The  tsrm  habit  does  include  those  activities 
which  have  been  madii  habitual  to  the  highest  degree,  activi- 
ties which  are  often  called  automatic.  But  habit  rightly  un- 
derstood means  just  what  the  term  is  used  to  mean,  from  the 
automatic  activities  in  the  motor  realm  to  the  professional  at- 
titudes and  moral  habitudes.  Bagley  speaks  of  "a  new  habit 
of  psychological  observation,"  and  of  "specific  habits  of  clean- 
liness, industry,  and  mental  application."  Andrews,  in  an  ex- 
cellent article  in  The  American  Journal  of  Psychology  defines 
habit  and  gives  as  his  first  illustration  the  "attitude  of  'loyalty 
to  Alma  Mater.'  The  habit,  strictly  speaking,  he  writes,  "is 
the  similar  form  as  regards  feeling  which  consciousness  re- 
peatedly takes."  In  a  later  place  he  quotes  the  following  from 
James :  *  "It  is  not  simply  particular  lines  of  discharge,  but 
general  forms  of  discharge  that  are  grooved  out  by  habit  in 
the  brain.' "  The  disadvantage  in  terms  exists,  however, 
though  many  quotations  of  this  kind  might  be  made  to  show 
that  common  usage  of  the  term  includes  this  broader  mean- 
ings 

\       Judgments,  ideas  and  habits.     The  teacher  finds  one  of  the 

I  most  important  and  most  difficult  parts  of  his  work  is  that  of 
getting  the  student  to  think,  to  form  correct  judgments,  to  deal 
with  ideas  instead  of  mere  words.  It  may  be  that  if  the  school 
gave  more  material  for  thought  and  more  of  live  incentive  and 
brought  more  of  the  kind  of  appeal  to  thought  and  the  kind  of 
reward  for  thinking  that  life  normally  affords  when  people 
outside  of  school  actually  think,  it  would  not  be  so  disappoint- 
ing a  matter.  The  writer  has  seen  the  school  room  made 
lively  with  keen  critical  thinking  and  has  seen  teachers  whose 
pupils  could  not  have  failed  to  catch  some  of  the  stimulus  to 
more  careful  and  correct  thinking.     Such  stimulus  and  prac- 

j   lice  cannot  fail  to  make  desirable  tendencies  or  habits  in  the 

trfield  of  thought. 

The  tendency  to  have  certain  ideas  or  forms  of  thought  are 
not,  of  course,  the  ideas  or  thoughts.  Habits  of  thought  are 
the  tendencies  to  think  more  or  less  as  one  has  thought  before, 
and  we  have  already  shown  how  even  the  most  complex  think- 
ing depends  at  bottom  on  the  laws  of  habit.  Helping  the 
student  to  think  and  reason  is  dealt  with  in  a  later  chapter. 


THE    FUNDAMENTAL    WORK    OF    EDUCATION  45 

The  whole  emphasis  of  the  book  is  toward  the  realization  that 
if  the  thinking,  the  having  of  ideas,  as  well  as  of  all  other  ex- 
periences of  the  learner  is  to  be  of  value,  there  must  be  some 
permanent  dispositions  as  a  result. 

Ideals,  the  guiding  influence  of  education.  We  have  al- 
ready suggested  that  ideals  are  the  things  which  should  be  the 
great  guides  for  the  accomplishment  of  results  in  education. 
Education  we  defined  as  the  making,  modifying,  and  remak- 
ing of  more  or  less  permanent  dispositions,  tendencies,  habi- 
tudes, or,  to  use  a  single  term,  habits,  under  the  guidance  of 
ideals.  As  habit  is  the  fundamental  principle  of  education, 
so  the  determining  of  these  habits  in  the  directions  of  ideals  is 
the  guiding  principle.  The  history  of  education  is  the  history 
of  how  educators  have  tried  to  make  ideals  function  in  the 
lives  of  people  and  to  bring  about  permanent  educational  pos- 
sessions in  terms  of  ideals.  The  importance  of  ideals  can 
hardly  be  overestimated  and  the  necessity  for  the  best  ideals 
surely  cannot. 

The  following  true  story  is  a  suggestion  of  what  ideals  mean 
in  life.  What  they  mean  for  the  individual  they  mean  for  so- 
ciety. What  they  mean  for  society  they  mean  for  the  whole 
world.  Let  the  reader  look  to  history  and  decide  for  himself 
how  far  the  ideals  of  people  or  of  individuals  might  be  taken 
as  true  indication  of  what  they  shall  be  and  do. 

Ideals  and  achievement.  "Success,"  said  the  master  instru- 
ment maker  of  the  world,  "is  having  an  ideal  and  living  up  to 
it  as  closely  as  one  can."  Last  November,  some  of  the  leading 
men  of  the  country  gathered  to  celebrate  the  seventy-fifth 
birthday  of  the  man  who  made  the  statement  quoted  above. 
"Uncle  John"  Brashear  for  twenty-one  years  worked  for  ten 
hours  a  day  in  the  South  Side  Mills  of  Pittsburgh.  After  sup- 
per, in  a  little  shop  built  by  himself  and  wife  with  their  own 
hands,  he  made  astronomical  instruments  which  are  consider- 
ed the  best  that  man  has  produced.  His  first  lens  took  three 
years  to  finish.  The  second  lens  took  two  years  more  and 
broke  before  it  was  finished.  Dismayed  at  first,  a  word  from 
his  wife  gave  him  new  courage,  and  together  they  set  out  to 
make  a  larger  and  better  lens  than  either  of  the  others.  After 
twenty-one  years  in  the  rolling  mill  he  was  free  to  give  all  of 
his  time  to  the  interest  of  his  life,  which  was  to  make  the  best 
instruments  possible  by  which  people  could  study  the  stars. 

The  most  difficult  problems  in  instrument  making  have  been 
given  him.     When  Professor  Michelson  needed  optical  sur- 


46  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

faces  that  nowhere  showed  an  error  as  great  as  one-millionth 
of  an  inch  he  asked  Brashear  to  make  them,  and  he  made 
them.  When  the  Canadian  Government  decided  to  have  the 
largest  telescope  in  the  world  they  turned  to  Brashear.  In  re- 
turn for  a  kindness  which  Professor  Tyndall  did  him,  the  in- 
strument maker  sent  him  two  planes  and  a  ruled  grating  on 
which  he  had  scratched  lines  so  fine  that  they  were  sixty  to 
the  breadth  of  a  human  hair. 

Dr.  Brashear  sa^^s :  "If  there  is  anything  in  my  life  uncom- 
mon it  is  because  from  the  time  I  was  a  boy,  no  matter  what  I 
had  to  do,  I  tried  to  do  it  a  little  better  than  it  had  ever  been 
done  before."  But  Charles  S.  Schwab  writes :  "It  seems  to  me 
that  of  all  men  of  fame  and  achievement  I  have  known,  he  is 

the  most  wonderful, I  have  known  him  at  times  to  get  so 

interested  in  the  struggle  for  perfection  that  he  would  turn 
out  an  instrument  which  in  the  making  cost  several  times  its 
selling  price." 

Ideals  as  permanent  motives  in  life.  What  greater  work 
can  the  teacher  do  than  to  develop  ideals  which  shall  function 
powerfully  as  motives?  Note  the  essential  factors  which  ap- 
pear in  the  above  example.  On  the  one  hand  was  the  habitu- 
al thinking  of  perfection,  on  the  other  the  permanent  desire 
to  make  things  a  little  better  than  they  had  ever  been  made 
before.  Added  to  this  was  the  constant  effort  to  attain  this 
perfection.  So  education  must  most  vitally  concern  itself 
with  ideals.  It  must  do  so  by  developing  a  tendency  to  think 
the  ideal  something,  neatness,  perfection,  or  what  not,  to  feel 
for  this  thing  and  to  have  the  habitual  desire  for  it,  and,  also, 
to  stimulate  one  to  act  in  connection  with  this  ideal  so  that  the 
disposition  to  strive  towards  it  becomes  the  habit  of  life.     (8) . 

The  controlling  principle  of  education.  If  the  ideals  of  per- 
fection and  completeness  in  achievement,  for  example,  in  ob- 
servation, memorization,  in  attainment  of  most  valuable  inter- 
ests and  sentiments,  and  in  the  mastery  of  skill  and  execution, 
— the  standards  in  attainment  in  each  and  every  bit  of  learn- 
ing should  be  those  which  are  reasonably  and  psychologically 
possible.  The  striving  towards  the  ideals  should  reach  cer- 
tain standards  at  certain  stages  of  education;  thus  standards 
should  be  the  controlling  principle  of  education. 

So  the  ideal  may  remain  ever  so  high  and  unattainable, — if 
they  are  attainable  they  are  not  high  enough; — but  the  stand- 
ards must  be  determined  by  the  physical  and  mental  consti- 


THE    FUNDAMENTAL    WORK    OF    EDUCATION  47 

tiition  of  the  student.     For  each  individual  let  us  say:     We 
will  try  to  educate  him  to  his  best,  not  some  one  else's  best. 

Curriculum  based  on  activities  which  result  in  habits.  Pto-\ 
fessor  Meriam,  among  others,  has  brought  to  our  notice  late- 
ly the  very  important  fact  that  grade  school  pupils  may  be 
prepared  for  high  school  as  well,  and  in  some  cases  better, 
without  ordinary  teaching  of  arithmetic,  reading,  writing  and 
spelling.  The  students  in  The  University  Elementary  School 
of  the  University  of  Missouri,  pursue  four  "studies."  They 
are,  1)  Observation  of  nature  and  industrial  activities,  2) 
Playing  games  of  present  interest,  3)  Handwork:  making 
things  of  immediate  usefulness,  4)  Enjoyment  of  stories,  pic- 
tures, music. 

"Reading,  writing,  arithmetic  and  other  such  'common 
branches'  are  not  taught  as  such  at  all.  The  content  of  such 
branches  is  used  only  as  needed  in  one  or  more  of  the  four 
studies  constituting  the  curriculum  of  this  school.  This  does 
not  mean  that  pupils  in  this  school  do  not  learn  to  *read,  write 
or  cipher.'  It  does  mean,  however,  that  proficiency  in  these 
common  school  studies  is  made  subordinate,  as  a  purpose,  to 
proficiency  in  'Observation,'  *Play,'  'Handwork,'  and  'Enjoy- 
ment of  Stories.'  Thus  it  might  be  rightly  claimed  that  the 
work  of  this  school  should  be  measured,  not  in  terms  of  school 
subjects,  but  in  terms  of  the  out-of -school  activities  of  the 
pupils."     (64). 

The  point  is  that  activities  that  children  will  be  required  to 
do  can  be  chosen  and  the  habits  involved  in  these  activities  de- 
veloped. The  resulting  proficiency  can  be  measured.  If  the 
habits  to  be  formed  can  be  chosen  the  teacher  has  a  definite 
work  to  do.  And  the  performance  of  the  pupil  in  the  expres- 
sion of  these  habits  is  as  definite  an  end  product  to  measure  as 
is  possible  in  human  beings.  

In  other  schools  the  same  emphasis  on  activity  and  the  di- 
rection of  activity  instead  of  on  content  and  information  has 
been  made.  Notable  amons  them  are  The  Andover  Play 
School,  (48),  The  California  Play  Demonstration  School,  (31), 
and  The  Worcester  Girls'  Trade  School,  (83).  Jones  in  his 
excellent  monojETaph  on  "Training  in  Education"  oives  an  out- 
line of  the  principle  features  of  these  systems,  (49),  and  savs: 
"Activity  liberates  reflexes  involved  in  instincts,  thus  making 
possible  the  formation  of  Habits,  of  learning  and  forgetting 
through  the  operation  of  the  factors  and  laws  discussed  pre- 
viously.    As  pointed  out    and    emphasized    by   almost    every 


48  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

great  educator  and  implied  in  the  great  systems  of  education, 
activity  is  the  real  basis  of  education."     (50), 

r^  Kinds  of  habits  to  be  formed.  Finally  we  may  indicate  in 
general  summary  some  of  the  most  important  kinds  of  habits 
that  are  to  be  formed.  They  are  given  under  the  heads  of 
intellectual,  emotional  and  motor.  This  classification  helps 
to  show  from  one  point  of  view,  the  different  kinds  of  work 
the  teacher  has  to  do  as  already  mentioned. 

I.  Intellectual. 

1.  Habits  of  observing  carefully  and  accurately. 

2.  Habits  of  clear  and  accurate  association  and  recall; 
memorial  habits,  or  memories. 

3.  Habits  of  forming  new  concepts  and  of  refining  and 
correcting  old  ones. 

4.  Habits  of  making  clear,  accurate,  logical  judgments. 

5.  Habits  of  thinking  over,  meditating  upon,  rehears- 
ing, and  thinking  out  old  ideas  and  conclusions, 
from  new  points  of  view,  for  productive  thought, 

i.  e.,  originality. 

6.  Habits  of  good  attention. 

II.  Emotional. 

1.  Permanent  interests,  in  science,  literature,  art,  gov- 
ernment, etc.,  as  for  example,  a  passion  for  science. 

2.  Emotional  attitudes,  desires,  and  the  like,  which  may 
develop  into  such  things  as,  logical  sentiments  or  de- 
sire for  truth,  ethical  sentiments  or  desire  for  the 
highest  good,  aesthetic  sentiments  or  desire  for  the 
beautiful,  religious  sentiments.  Dislikes  on  the 
other  hand,  for  things  that  are  unworthy,  immoral, 

etc.     Under  this  head  we  may  include  "habitudes." 

III.  Motor  habits. 

1.  Habits  of  quick  and  appropriate  action  following 
upon  the  appropriate  stimulus,  or  upon  deliberation 
and  decision. 

2.  Habits  of  decision. 

3.  Particular  habits  of  skill  or  technique,  as  those  of 
writing,  handling  apparatus,  using  tools,  etc. 

Generalized  habits  and  the  habit  of  generalizing  and  apply- 
ing. Habits  are  both  specific  and  general.  The  habits  men- 
tioned above  must  be  acquired  in  connection  with  certain  ac- 
tivities and  result  in  the  easier,  more  economical  doing  of  the 
things  learned.  But  habits  may  be  generalized  or  general; 
that  is,  they  may  act  from  the  arousal  of  different  stimuli  than 


THE    FUNDAMENTAL    WORK    OF    EDUCATION  '       49 

those  which  originally  aroused  them,  or  they  may  act  under 
the  dominance  of  difTerent  emotional  states.  There  may  also 
be  the  habit  of  applying  what  is  learned,  of  trying  to  make  it 
help  in  other  fields  than  that  in  which  the  habit  was  acquired. 
These  may  include  the  results  of  education  which  are  called 
"transfers  of  training,"  and  it  is  possible  that  all  transfers  may 
be  reduced  to  the  transfer  of  habits,  under  favorable  condi- 
tions, e.  g.,  presence  of  ideals,  realizations  of  value,  desire  and 
attempt  to  make  applications,  etc.  In  other  words,  transfer 
of  training,  which  refers  to  improvement  in  one  activity  which 
is  correlated  with  improvement  in  another  or  other  activities, 
may  at  bottom  be  habits  learned  in  one  situation  which  are 
set  into  action  by  stimuli  different  from  those  which  originally 
started  the  habit. 

Education  as  habit  under  the  guidance  of  ideals  and  the 
control  of  standards.  Education,  reduces,  then,  to  the  forma- 
tion of  habits  including  habitudes  and  the  modifications  of 
those  already  formed.  It  means  the  remaking  of  the  individ- 
ual. This  process  goes  on  under  the  guidance  of  ideals  and 
the  control  of  standards.  Society  must  determine  what  these 
ideals  shall  be.  Educators  must  determine  the  standards. 
The  pressure  upon  the  learner  to  acquire  the  necessary  edu- 
cation, i.  e.y  the  necessary  habits,  may  come  from  without  him- 
self, or  the  ideals  may  be  accepted  and  a  motive  force  arise 
within  him  to  drive  him  on  to  attainment.  Both  of  these 
things  occur:  society,  in  the  persons  of  parent  and  teacher, 
and  the  demands  of  others,  and  ideals  attained  in  the  course 
of  development  in  the  individual  all  play  their  part. 

The  native  tendencies  are  the  means  of  bringing  about  ac- 
tions or  responses.  Acquisitions  take  place  in  various  ways. 
Progress  in  this  acquisition  and  the  permanence  of  this  acqui- 
sition follow.  Various  physiological  and  physical  conditions 
enter  to  help  or  to  hinder  the  development.  Training  in  one 
thing  may  improve  other  activities.  And  finally  suggestions 
and  rules  for  the  direction  of  the  learner  in  the  most  economic 
acquisition  may  be  given.  These  things  will  be  treated  in  the 
following  chapters. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  Show  how  habit  is  basic  for  education  and  for  progress 
in  learning. 

2.  How  far  are  habits  already  formed  modifiable? 


50  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

3.  Is  it  necessary  to  form  habits  and  then  modify  them  in 
learning?     Illustrate. 

4.  Discuss  the  advantages  of  interpreting  education  in 
terms  of  the  principle  of  habit? 

5.  How  may  this  be  disadvantageous,  especially,  so  far  as 
the  use  of  the  term  "habit"  is  concerned? 

6.  From  what  you  have  learned  in  the  last  two  chapters 
discuss  the  meaning  and  truth  of  the  following  statement,"An 
acquired  habit,  from  the  physiological  point  of  view,  is  noth- 
ing but  a  new  pathway  of  discharge  formed  in  the  brain,  by 
which  certain  incoming  currents  ever  after  tend  to  escape 
....  the  association  of  ideas,  perception,  memory,  reasoning, 
the  education  of  the  will,  etc.,  etc.,  can  best  be  understood  as 
results  of  the  formation  de  novo  of  just  such  pathways  of  dis- 
charge."    W.  James. 

7.  What  is  the  teacher's  work  in  terms  of  habit  formation? 

8.  Find  illustrations  to  show  the  effect  of  ideals  in  individ- 
uals and  in  groups. 

9.  To  what  extent  have  educators  in  various  ages  con- 
sciously concerned  themselves  with  ideals? 

10.  State  and  discuss  what  you  think  should  be  the  con- 
trolling principle  of  education. 

REFERENCES. 

Andrews,  B.  R.     Habit.     Am.  J.  Psychol.  14,  1903,  Pp.  121-149. 

James,  W.  Psychology,  Briefer  Courses.  Ch.  10.  Or,  Principles  of 
Psychology,  Vol.  1,  Ch.  4.  Also,  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychology, 
1904,  Ch.  8. 

Radestock,  p.  Habit  and  Education.  D.  C.  Heath  and  Co.,  1902, 
P,  117, 


Chapter  4. 
LEARNING  AND  HABIT  FORMATION. 

Life  and  habit  formation.  Life  goes  on  mostly  through 
habit;  and  any  progress  beyon3^he  slow  laborious  doing  of 
things  as  one  does  when  le^afnihg  how  to  do  Ihcin,  depends,  if 
we  except  reflex  and  instinct,  absolutely  upon  habit.  More- 
over this  learning  as  we  have  already  shown,  depends  on  pre- 
vious acquisitions  which  have  become  habits.  If  we  think  of 
the  nervous  system  this  means  that  the  higher  centers  are  con- 
cerned with  the  new,  the  problematic,  the  difficult,  that  which 
has  not  yet  been  mastered.  As  soon  as  this  learning  becomes 
sufliciently  habitual,  the  lower  centers  take  up  the  activities, 
as  far  as  they  can,  bring  about  the  performances,  and  at  the 
same  time  relieve  the  higher  centers.  The  higher  centers  can 
now  concern  themselves  with  the  next  new  problem.  It  is 
not  to  be  understood  that  only  the  lower  centers  act  accord- 
ing to  this  law  of  habit.  The  higher  centers,  the  brain,  also 
must  be  considered  as  taking  the  'sets'  which  practice  gives 
them.  Progress  in  learning  shows  the  presence  of  activity 
with  attention  at  first,  changing  into  activity  which  is  habitual; 
again  attention  appears,  but  to  something  new,  what  has  been 
learned  sufliciently  well  being  carried  on  by  habit.  In  this 
way  all  progress  is  made  in  skill,  in  memorizing,  in  mastering 
all  of  the  reactions  to  our  world. 

We  have  said  that  the  results  of  education  are  nothing  more 
than  habits  of  some  kind,  i.  e.,  more  or  less  permanent  dispo- 
sitions, tendencies,  interests,  habitudes  and  the  like.  The  im- 
portant thing  is  that  the  habits  be  good  rather  than  bad  habits; 
that  they  be  helpful  rather  than  harmful:  that  the  nervous 
system  be  trained  to  react  as  we  want  it  to  act.  ^-^ 

The  need  for  habits.  The  need  for  habits  is  coextensive 
with  the  need  for  education.  Progress  is  dependent  upon  ac-j 
quisition  which  has  become  habitual.  Efficiency,  mastery, 
competency  in  anything  whatsoever,  exist  only  insofar  as  they 
are  made  possible  by  the  necessar\^  groups  of  well  formed  and 
well  organized  habits.  The  need  for  and  the  value  of  habits 
mav  be  shown  by  a  statement  of  the  results  of  habit  formation. 

The  effects  of  habit.     The  effects  of  habit  may  be  summed 

51 


52  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

up  as  follows :  it  brings  perfection  and  accuracy  of  action,  les- 
sens fatigue  and  strain,  insures  an  increasing  degree  of 
promptness  and  certainty  of  response,  and  gradually  elimin- 
ates things  to  which  one  must  give  attention.  The  scope  of 
one's  response  is  thus  greatly  enlarged,  and  the  time  in  which 
one  can  successfully  and  comfortably  carry  on  activities 
which  have  been  made  habitual  is  very  much  lengthened. 
Judgments  and  actions  are  better  and  quicker;  and  one  can 
respond  to  more  and  more  complex  situations. 

Habits  tend,  within  limits,  to  make  people  do  the  same 
things  in  the  same  way;  stick  to  the  same  trade  or  profession; 
like  the  same  kind  of  music;  turn  to  the  old  familiar  authors, 
want  the  old  coat  and  wear  the  new  clothes  in  the  old  way; 
think  things  are  right  because  they  have  done  them  for  years, 
or  wrong  because  they  have  never  done  them;  fall  back  on  the 
old  interpretations;  cling  to  the  old  beliefs;  in  short,  be  and 
feel  and  do  the  same  things  in  the  same  way.  It  gives  a  stab- 
ility to  the  individual  and  to  society. 

Habits  of  the  broadest  kind,  or  "habitudes,"  it  must  be  re- 
membered, have  a  different  result.  They  tend  to  make  people 
respond  in  terms  of  ideals,  motives,  maxims,  and  the  like,  and 

L require  judgment,  and  conscious  reflection.  Here  one  is  made 
more  rather  than  less  conscious. 

Strong  guiding  influence  of  habit.  Little  do  we  realize,  per- 
haps, the  fact  that  habit  once  made  determines  what  we  shall 
do  even  in  cases  in  which  our  conscious  processes  would  indi- 
cate some  other  behavior.  No  better  statement  of  this  matter 
can  be  found  than  that  of  Prof.  Titchener,  who  writes:  "Now 
the  important  point  in  the  present  connection  is  this:  that  the 
side  which  finally  proves  to  be  the  stronger,  in  the  struggle  of 
secondary  attention,  need  not  necessarily  be  the  consciously 
stronger.  The  conflict  between  working  and  going  to  the  fire 
may  lead  to  a  victory  for  work,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  con- 
siousness  is  more  fully  occupied  by  fire-ideas  than  it  is  by 
work-ideas.  The  nervous  system,  in  virtue  of  its  own  bias  or 
leaning,  has  brought  up  further  reinforcements  on  the  side  of 
work,  and  these  reinforcements  have  directed  or  guided  con- 
sciousness although  they  are  not  themselves  represented  in 
consciousness." 

"The  guiding  influence  of  nervous  bias  is  not  a  matter  of  in- 
ference, still  less  a  matter  of  speculation;  it  can  be  demons- 
traded  in  the  psychological  laboratory.  Suppose  that  we  are 
measuring  the  time  required  to  reply  to  a  spoken  word  by  an- 


LEARNING  AND   HABIT  FORMATION  53 

other  word  of  the  same  class  or  kind :  to  associate  dog  to  cat, 
table  to  chair,  and  so  on.  The  experimenter  prepares  a  long 
list  of  words:  cat,  chair,  and  so  forth.  Then  he  explains  to 
the  observer  the  precise  nature  of  the  experiment:  I  shall  call 
out  certain  words,  he  says,  and  you  are  to  reply,  as  quickly  as 
you  can,  with  words  of  the  same  class;  if  I  say  horse,  you  will 
mention  some  other  animal,  and  if  I  say  pen,  you  will  mention 
something  else  that  has  to  do  with  writing.  The  observer  un- 
derstands, and  the  experiment  begins.  Suppose,  further,  that 
the  experiments  have  been  continued  for  some  days.  The  ex- 
perimenter has  no  need  to  repeat  his  explanation  at  every  sit- 
ting; the  observer  takes  it  for  granted  that  he  is  still  to  reply 
with  a  coordinate  word.  And  suppose,  finally,  that  some  day, 
after  a  week's  work,  the  experimenter  interrupts  the  series, 
and  asks:  Are  you  thinking  about  what  I  told  you  to  do?  The 
observer,  fearing  that  he  has  made  some  error,  and  feeling 
very  repentent,  will  say:  No,  to  tell  the  truth  I  had  absolutely 
forgotten  all  about  it;  it  had  gone  altogether  out  of  my  mind; 
have  I  done  anything  wrong?  He  had  not  done  anything 
wrong;  but  his  answer  shows  that  a  certain  tendency, 'impress- 
ed upon  his  nervous  system  by  the  experimenter's  original  ex- 
planation, has  been  effective  to  direct  the  course  of  his  ideas 
long  after  its  conscious  correlate  has  disappeared.  And  what 
happens  here,  in  the  laboratory,  happens  every  day  of  our 

lives  in  the  wider  experience  outside  the  laboratory."  (118)^ 

/  Importance  of  early  training.  For  the  determination  of  our  j 
I  future  life,  our  future  thinking,  liking,  disliking,  ability  to  do  ' 
and  ways  of  doing,  nothing  so  much  as  the  understanding  of 
habit,  makes  one  realize  the  importance  of  doing  early  what 
one  desires  to  do  later.  Competency,  efficiency,  mastery,  are 
the  results  of  continual  and  regular  practice.  The  point  is 
that  regular  application  brings  inevitable  results  in  whatever 
field  it  may  be:  in  the  making  of  judgments  in  the  fields  of 
law,  or  science,  or  business;  in  acquiring  appreciation  in  the 
field  of  art,  or  of  music,  or  of  literature:  in  drawing,  or  in 
playing  a  musical  instrument,  or  in  anything  else  of  which  one 
can  think. 

These  habits  of  feeling,  of  thinking  and  of  acting  are  the 
things  we  fall  back  on  in  the  emergencies  of  life,  and  they  are 
what  carr>^  us  through  successfullv  if  we  come  through  sue-     x 

cessfully  at  all.  J  Even  the  original  thinking  in  the  novel  sit= 

notions,  depend,  atg-^lrendy  shown,  upon  the  habits  of  thought. 
Or,  to  put  it  differently,  for  example,  we  rightly  expect  that  the 


54  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

difficult  problems  will  be  solved  better  and  more  surely,  not 
by  one  who  has  newly  entered  the  field  of  thought  in  which 
the  problem  occurs,  but  by  one  who  has  worked  in  this  field, 
who  has  solved  problems  and  become  familiar  with  all  this 
kind  of  facts,  who,  in  other  words,  has  formed  his  habits  of 
thinking  in  this  field  and  whose  judgments  are,  in  proportion 
to  his  mastery  of  the  field,  liable  to  be  sure  and  right. 

Knowing  this,  one  knows,  not  the  royal  road,  but  what  might 
perhaps  be  called  the  real  stairway  to  efliciency  or  better  to 
mastery  of  his  chosen  field  or  portion  thereof.  The  analogy 
of  the  stairway  is  significant.  It  should  suggest  two  facts, 
first,  that  there  are  habits  dependent  on  others  made  earlier, 
-(^  and  second,  and  partly  for  this  reason,  that  habits  should  be 
fully  made.  Many  habits  are  made  easily,  some  with  a  single 
performance  if  they  are  simple  and  easy  and  pleasant,  or  if 
the  experience  is  very  vivid;  but  it  is  obvious  that  there  are 
many  desirable  habits  which  are  complex  and  not  so  pleasant 
and  which  do  not  make  themselves,  so  to  speak.  The  hit  or 
miss  method  of  learning,  imitation  of  which  one  is  conscious, 
or  imitation  of  which  one  is  not  conscious,  are  sufficient  for 
many  of  the  former  kind  of  habits;  but  for  the  more  difficult 
ones  there  are  many  conditions  of  which  the  teacher  and  the 
student  should  be  conscious,  manv  helps  to  the  formation  of 
habits  of  which  they  should  be  able  to  take  advantage;  many 
hindrances  which  they  should  be  able  either  to  avoid  or  to 
render  less  effective. 

PRINCIPLES    OF    HABIT    FORMATION. 

"y  1.  Learning  correctly.  That  "we  learn  to  do  by  doing"  is 
true.  That  we  learn  to  do  incorrectly  by  doing  incorrectly  is 
part  of  this  truth.  Above  everything  else,  the  student  must  fol- 
low another  precept:  ''learn  to  do  by  doing  correcUy."  Re- 
peat but  repeat  only  correct  actions.  The  selection  of  the  cor- 
rect response  is  essential.  Anything  that  is  once  learned  is 
never  entirely  unlearned;  that  is  to  say,  anything  once  made  a 
part  of  the  nervous  system  is  never  entirely  wiped  out.  Anyone 
can  pick  out  many  incorrect  habits  that  are  a  part  of  him.  The 
spelling  of  a  certain  word  was  learned  incorrectly;  the  finger 
learned  to  hit  the  wrong  key  on  the  typewriter;  the  wrong 
form  of  speech  or  the  incorrect  pronunciation  crept  in  and  be- 
came habitual;  then  there  was  the  attempt  to  unlearn  and  re- 
learn.  Who  does  not  keenly  realize  the  difficulty?  Unlearn- 
ing and  relearning  harder  than  the  original  learning!  Yes, 
but  more  than  that,  the  original  learning  is  never  entirely  un- 


LEARNING  AND  HABIT  FORMATION  55 

learned.  The  new  habit  may  be  learned.  The  old  habit  may 
be  submerged  a  good  part  of  the  time,  or  may  grow  weaker 
from  disuse.  But  when  one  is  in  a  hurry,  or  is  striving  the 
hardest  for  a  perfect  performance,  out  comes  the  old  incor- 
rect response.  We  hit  the  wrong  key  on  the  typewriter,  or 
make  the  same  grammatical  error.  With  an  understanding 
of  the  facts  of  habit,  the  conclusion  is  obvious:  learn  correct- 
ly the  first  time,  never  let  anything  incorrect  become  habitual. 
Never  practise  unless  you  practise  correctly  and  thoroughly; 
bad  practice  is  worse  than  no  practice;  the  pianist,  the  singer, 
the  billiard  player,  the  expert  in  any  line  comes  to  learn  this 
sooner  or  later. 

2.  Accuracy  first,  speed  later.  As  a  corollary  of  what  has 
just  been  said  it  follov*^s  that  accuracy  should  be  worked  for 
first  and  that  speed  should  be  left  till  later.  Without  doubt 
this  is  a  principle  which  should  govern  all  kinds  of  learning. 
The  fastest  way  to  progress  is  to  go  slowly  at  first.  Speed  will 
come.  And  the  demand  and  pressure  of  circumstances  can 
generally  be  expected  to  accomplish  this.  I  have  frequently 
stated  this  general  principle  to  teachers  and  have  had  nothing 
but  concurrence  in  the  matter  from  them. 

3.  Strong  and  decided  initiative.  (41).  As  has  been  often 
said,  in  the  forming  of  a  habit,  we  should  launch  ourselves 
with  as  strong  and  decided  an  initiative  as  possible.  The  start 
is  very  important.  Success  helps  to  further  success.  Failure 
may  dishearten. 

4.  Continuity  of  practice.  "Continuity  of  training,"  James 
says,  "is  the  great  means  of  making  the  nervous  system  act  in- 
fallibly right."  Never  to  permit  an  exception  till  the  habit 
is  fully  formed  is  the  rule.  Exceptions  undo  much  that  has 
been  done.  They  even  start  another  habit;  the  habit  of  mak- 
ing exceptions.  The  more  difficult  the  habit,  the  more  im- 
portant that  an  exception  does  not  occur;  because  this  makes 
it  easier  to  fall  into  the  way  of  letting  them  occur. 

5.  Use  of  every  opportunity.  The  same  author  adds  the 
following  maxim:  "Seize  the  very  first  opportunity  to  act  on 
every  resolution  you  make,  and  on  every  emotional  prompt- 
ing you  may  experience  in  the  direction  of  the  habits  you  as- 
pire to  gain.  It  is  not  in  the  moment  of  their  forming,  but  in 
the  moment  of  their  producing  motor  effects,  that  resolves  and 
aspirations  communicate  the  new  *set'  to  the  brain.'  ' 

6.  Caring  enough  and  determination.  If  a  person  only 
cares  enough,  he  is  likely  to  succeed  in  forming  the  habit  he 


56  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

sets  out  to  make.  What  we  care  enough  for  we  generally  find 
time  for,  and  find  a  way  to  do.  It  is  just  the  not  caring  enough 
that  is  as  likely  as  anything  to  be  the  weak  place.  Closely  re- 
lated to  this  is  determination;  let  one  be  determined,  his  mind 
be  fully  made  up,  as  the  phrase  goes,  and  he  has  one  of  the 
best  helps.  Internally  one  needs  this  whole  hearted  giving  of 
one's  self  to  the  task  of  habit  making  if  the  habit  be  difficult 
and  unpleasant.  Caring  enough,  a  deep  thorough-going  de- 
sire for  the  habit,  determination,  high  resolve,  and  then  throw- 
ing one's  self  into  the  doing, — these  are  invaluable  internal 
aids. 

7.  A  clear  plan.  One  is  more  likely  to  do  a  thing  if  he 
knows  exactly  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it.  If  the  method  of 
doing,  the  way  to  start  in,  the  order  of  sequence,  or  what  not, 
are  still  in  question,  it  takes  more  effort  to  hold  to  the  thing. 
A  clear  plan  eliminates  many  difficulties,  and  hesitations,  and 
decisions  to  put  off  until  another  time. 

8.  Realization  of  value.  Another  internal  help  is  the  real- 
ization of  the  value  of  the  habit,  if  it  be  once  formed.  Know- 
ing what  one  can  accomplish  with  this  skill;  what  can  be  at- 
tained with  that  combination  of  habits;  how  certain  acquisi- 
tions can  be  applied  in  bettering  one's  position,  or  salary, 
makes  one  of  the  strongest  incentives.  As  an  illustration  of 
this,  note  the  change  in  attitude  and  efforts  of  students  when 
they  come  to  find  that  certain  subjects  will  be  of  practical 
value  to  them,  e.  g.,  professional  students,  who  are  getting  the 
things  which  mean  entering  into  and  succeeding  in  their  pro- 
fessions. 

9.  Success  and  the  feeling  of  success;  mastery  and  the  feel- 
ing of  mastery.  One  needs  to  succeed,  to  master  something, 
and  to  learn  the  difference  it  makes  in  the  whole  mental  life 
and  attitude  of  the  individual.  One  is  a  different  person  when 
he  has  mastered  something  and  has  the  feeling  of  success  and, 
better,  the  feeling  of  mastery.  Move  slowly  and  surely  to- 
towards  success  and  towards  mastering  your  desired  habits, 
and  every  bit  of  success  and  the  feeling  of  all  earlier  successes 
will  help  you. 

10.  Suggestion.  Suggestion  helps  in  various  ways.  You 
may  have  the  suggestion  of  people.  People  who  are  accomp- 
lishing things,  who  are  doing  what  you  want  to  do,  who  are 
enthusiastic,  and  who  keep  you  in  the  general  atmosphere  of 
doing  and  succeeding,  are  by  all  means  valuable  to  one  who  is 
trying  to  form  difficult  habits. 


LEARNING  AND   HARIT   FORMATION  57 

Suggestion  also  helps  when  it  lies  in  objects,  and  places,  and 
the  like.  The  library,  the  gjinnasium,  the  study  room,  the 
laboratory,  all  are  suggestions,  and  where  work  is  being  done 
and  studying  is  going  on,  it  is  easier  to  work  or  to  study  as  the 
case  may  be. 

11.  Publishing  intentions.  Telling  a  friend  or  a  few  good 
friends  that  you  are  going  to  form  a  certain  habit  may  bring 
the  strongest  pressure  to  bear.  If  the  friends  are  of  the  right 
kind  they  will  see  that  you  are  reminded  of  your  resolution; 
if  you  fail  you  will  be  joked  about  it;  whatever  happens,  you 
will  either  succeed  or  fail,  not  only  in  your  own  knowledge, 
but  in  the  eyes  of  your  friends.  This  has  been  found  to  help 
where  everything  else  has  failed. 

12.  Penalties.  If  one  can  enforce  a  penalty  or  get  someone 
else  to  enforce  a  penalty  for  hiqi.he  may  find  that  he  has  a 
very  helpful  incentive.  But  the  penalty  must  be  a  real  one. 
Putting  a  dime  in  a  box  for  each  failure  and  having  in  the 
background  of  mind  the  idea  that  when  you  get  enough  you 
will  spend  it  for  a  box  of  candy  or  a  theatre  is  not  a  penalty. 
There  must  be  an  actual  felt  loss  to  yourself.  If  you  pay  for 
every  failure,  the  money  in  the  end  must  be  lost  to  you  entire- 
ly. Perhaps  the  best  kind  of  a  penalty  is  the  removal  of  some 
privilege.  It  presses  hard  on  one  to  find  himself  deprived  of 
something  which  he  really  desires  and  to  which  he  is  accus- 
tomed. 

13.  Putting  one's  self  on  honor.  If  it  seems  necessary,  put- 
ting one's  self  on  honor,  will  often  help.  But  one  should  never 
do  this  unless  he  endeavors  in  every  possible  way  to  succeed. 
Failing  when  one  has  appealed  to  this  kind  of  a  last  resort  is 
a  serious  affair. 

14.  Thoroughness.  Habits  should  be  completely  formed. 
H:)hits  are  the  bases  of  later  acquisitions  and  for  that  reason 
if  for  no  other  they  should  be  fully  made.  A  partially  formed 
habit  fails  to  bring  the  results  that  habits  are  known  to  bring, 
and  wliich  we  have  mentioned  above.  Neither  is  there  the 
permanence  that  goes  with  the  fully  made  habit.  Perhaps  the 
largest  part  of  the  difficulty  with  most  of  our  learning  lies  in 
the  fact  that  previous  acquisitions  have  not  been  sufficiently 
well  learned.  The  promptness  and  accuracy  which  some 
people  show  in  learning  new  things,  in  solving  new  problems, 
in  applying  old  knowledge,  lies  ver>^  largely,  if  not  almost 
wholly,  except  for  native  capacity,  in  the  fact  that  the  earlier 
acquisitions  were  thoroughly  made.     Getting  over  the  ground. 


58  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

getting  through,  is  not  making  the  most  valuable  and  perma- 
nent progress. 

HINDRANCES   TO   HABIT  FORMATION. 

1.  Not  caring  enough.  Some  of  the  things  that  we  have 
called  helps  to  habit  formation  may  be  lacking,  and  a  lack  of 
the  sincere  desire  is  one  of  the  most  serious  handicaps.  Many 
things  in  this  life  are  not  done  simply  because  we  do  not  care. 
If  the  stimulating  suggestion  only  happened  along,  or  we  fell 
upon  the  right  biographical  sketch,  or  had  one  of  the  "calico 
wives"  that  make  "broadcloth  husbands!"  Perhaps  we  would 
not  settle  down  comfortably  and  say,  "What's  the  use?" 

2.  Laziness.  Human  beings,  like  inanimate  objects,  are 
subject  to  the  law  of  inertia.  Laziness  may  be  merely  a  mat- 
ter of  habit.  Again  failure  to  rise  and  make  necessary  efforts 
may  be  simply  that  the  incentives,  the  things  that  stir  one  up 
are  lacking. 

3.  Lack  of  incentive.  This  lack  of  incentive  may  well  be 
emphasized.  A  word  from  a  friend,  a  suggestion  from  a  news- 
paper, or  a  journal,  a  smile  of  reproach  may  be  all  that  is 
necessary  to  arouse  one  to  the  most  strenuous  efforts.  If  the 
incentive  does  not  come  and  if  one  is  not  too  lazy,  he  may  find 
the  former  with  a  little  effort  and  be  a  winner  instead  of  a 
loser. 

4.  Other  habits.  Old  habits  are  the  basis  upon  which  new 
acquisitions  are  made.  But  it  is  also  true  that  some  old  habits 
interfere  with  the  formation  of  some  new  habits.  Where  the 
new  act  opposes  the  habitual  acts,  the  old  tendencies  make  the 
acquisition  difficult.  This  is  all  the  more  true  where  one  has 
to  break  an  old  habit  or  substitute  a  new  for  an  old  one. 

5.  Difficulty  and  complexity.  The  habit  itself  may  be  dif- 
ficult. Progress  in  the  formation  of  habits  leads  one  to  more 
and  more  complex  and  difficult  problems.  The  advance  that 
one  makes  renders  it  easier  to  do  what  has  already  been  made 
habitual,  but  succeeding  steps  are  naturally  harder  and  dis- 
couragement may  creep  in. 

6.  ilnpleasantness.  When  a  thim^  is  to  be  done,  it  is  likelv 
that  the  best  thing  one  can  do  is  to  forget  one's  feelings  and 
think  of  the  thina  to  be  done.  Old  things  are  pleasant  and 
new  things  are  likely  to  be  unpleasant  if  they  require  effort. 
We  have,  at  least,  to  cope  with  that  biological  tendency  that 
leads  us  to  avoid  the  unpleasant. 

7.  The  pressure  of  time  and  other  things.    We  fail  to  take 


LEARNING  AND   HABIT   FORMATION  59 

up  the  formation  of  many  new  habits  because  we  have  too 
many  other  things  to  do.  It  is  the  old  story:  I  haven't  time; 
I'm  too  busy;  I  can't  get  time  now  to  do  half  the  things  I  want 
to  do.  Time  is  short  when  w^e  are  doing  things.  When  we 
are  really  busy  we  have  not  time  for  half  of  the  worth  while 
things.  It  is  a  question  of  choosing;  but  if  we  really  care 
enough,  and  if  the  new  habit  is  sufficiently  valuable,  the  prob- 
ability is  that  at  least  most  of  us  can  find  time. 

8.  The  tendency  to  feel  without  acting.  One  of  the  most 
insidious  evils  of  life  lies  in  this  habit  of  feeling,  of  having  a 
fine  impulse  or  sentiment,  and  then  letting  the  tendency  fritter 
off  without  coming  to  any  motor  consequence.  Instead  of 
forming  the  desirable  habits  of  acting  in  accordance  with  our 
fine  feelings,  we  actually  form  habits  of  merely  enjoying  the 
thrill  and  then,  likely  enough,  of  looking  for  the  next  thrill. 
James  tells  us  that  "Every  time  a  resolve  or  a  fine  glow  of 
feeling  evaporates  without  bearing  practical  fruit  is  worse 
than  a  chance  lost;  it  works  so  as  positively  to  hinder  future 
resolutions  and  emotions  from  taking  the  normal  path  of  dis- 
charge. There  is  no  more  contemptible  type  of  human  char- 
acter than  that  of  the  nerveless  sentimentalist  and  dreamer, 
who  spends  his  life  in  a  weltering  sea  of  sensibility  and  emo- 
tion, but  who  never  does  a  manly  concrete  deed. 

The  habit  of  excessive  novel-reading  and  theatre-going  will 
produce  true  monsters  in  this  line.  The  weeping  of  a  Rus- 
sian lady  over  the  fictitious  personages  in  the  play,  while  her 
coachman  is  freezing  to  death  on  his  seat  outside,  is  the  sort 
of  thing  that  everywhere  happens  on  a  less  glaring  scale. 
Even  the  habit  of  excessive  indulgence  in  music,  for  those  who 
are  neither  performers  themselves  nor  musically  gifted  enough 
to  take  it  in  a  purely  intellectual  way,  has  probably  a  relaxing 
effect  upon  the  character.  One  becomes  filled  with  emotions 
which  habitually  pass  without  prompting  to  any  deed,  and  so 
the  inertly  sentimental  condition  is  kept  up.  The  remedy 
would  be,  never  to  suffer  one's  self  to  have  an  emotion  at  a 
concert,  without  expressing  it  afterward  in  some  active  way. 
Let  the  expression  be  the  least  thing  in  the  world — speaking 
genially  to  one's  aunt,  or  giving  up  one's  seat  in  a  horse-car, 
if  nothing  more  heroic  offers — but  let  it  not  fail  to  take  place." 
(38). 

9.  The  incomplete  learning  of  other  habits.  Although 
treated  in  another  place,  it  is  appropriate  here  to  mention  the 
fact  that  incomplete  learning  of  foundation  habits  interferes 


60  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

with  future  learning.  Whereas  one's  attention  should  be  free 
to  deal  with  the  new  habit  that  is  to  be  formed,  this  incom- 
plete learning  necessitates  giving  attention  to  direct  the  old 
actions.  This  is  a  serious  interference  and  is  to  be  obviated 
by  complete  learning  of  one  thing  before  going  on  to  the  next. 

BREAKING  OLD  HABITS. 

1.  Never  permit  the  old  habit  to  function.  If  possible,  and 
if  the  consequences  are  not  too  severe  on  the  individual,  the 
best  thing  is  to  discontinue  the  old  habit  at  once  and  complete- 
ly. This  may  be  extremely  difficult  and  one  may  need  all  the 
determination,  and  purpose,  and  desire  for  the  death  of  the 
old  habit  that  is  possible.  'Tapering  off'  is  a  makeshift  which 
may  be  necessary.  But  after  all  it  is  probably  only  in  very 
extreme  cases  that  it  is  necessary.  It  has  the  disadvantage  of 
continuing  the  habit,  of  exercising  it,  even  though  it  be  only 
light  exercise. 

2.  Remove  the  conditions  and  suggestions  for  the  old  hahit.. 
To  assist  one  in  leaving  off  the  old  habit,  all  the  things  that 
suggest  it  should  be  avoided.  It  is  easier  to  stay  away  from  a 
feast  than  to  go  and  not  partake.  If  necessary  remove  your- 
self from  the  environment  and  the  people  which  invite  or  even 
make  you  think  of  the  old  habit.  The  force  of  suggestion  can 
hardly  be  too  much  emphasized.  One  may  break  an  old  habit 
with  comparative  ease  by  going  to  a  new  environment  and 
among  different  people.  And  one  may  fall  into  the  old  habit 
again  immediately  on  frequenting  the  old  haunts. 

3.  Develop  a  substitute  habit.  Train  yourself  to  a  substi- 
tute habit  so  that  whenever  you  think  of  the  old  habit,  the  new 
one  takes  its  place.  In  the  development  of  the  new  habit  one 
can  make  use  of  many  suggestions  given  for  the  formation  of 
new  habits. 

4.  Penalties.  As  already  shown,  penalties,  if  they  be  real, 
are  helps  to  the  formation  of  habits;  they  are  also  helps  to 
breaking  habits.  Let  one  suffer  some  unpleasant  consequence 
of  every  lapse  into  the  old  habit  and  he  will  have  a  powerful 
influence  to  its  discontinuance. 

5.  A  new  ideal  coupled  with  strong  emotion.  Religious 
conversions  give  us  some  of  the  best  illustrations  of  the  break- 
ing of  old  habits  under  the  guidance  of  a  new  ideal  and  aided 
by  the  strong  emotional  reaction  that  may  accompany  it. 
Finding  a  new  center  of  energy  as  it  has  been  termed,  a  new 


LEARNING  AND  HABIT  FORMATION  61 

strong  motive  to  action  and  to  a  new  kind  of  life,  may  bring 
the  desired  result.     Religion  often  accomplishes  this. 

6.  New  demands  and  responsibilities.  New  demands  and 
responsibilities  also  afford  the  motive  power,  so  to  speak,  for 
breaking  old  habits  and  forming  new  ones.  A  new  and  better 
position,  the  presence  of  imitative  children,  the  need  for  great- 
er efficiency,  the  influence  of  a  new  group  of  busines  or  social 
acquaintances,  all  help  if  they  can  be  had. 

"Keep  the  faculty  of  effort  alive.**  "As  a  final  practical 
maxim,  relative  to  these  habits  of  will,"  writes  James,  in  his 
immortal  chapter  on  Habit,  "we  may,  then,  offer  something 
like  this :  Keep  the  faculty  of  effort  alive  in  you  by  a  little 
gratuitous  exercise  every  day.  That  is,  be  systematically  as- 
cetic or  heroic  in  little  unnecessary  points,  do  every  day  or 
two  something  for  no  other  reason  than  that  you  would  rather 
not  do  it,  so  that  when  the  hour  of  dire  need  draws  nigh,  it 
may  find  you  not  unnerved  and  untrained  to  stand  the  test. 
Asceticism  of  this  sort  is  like  the  insurance  which  a  man  pays 
on  his  house  and  goods.  The  tax  does  him  no  good  at  the 
lime,  and  possibly  may  never  bring  him  a  return.  But  if  the 
fire  does  come,  his  having  paid  it  will  be  his  salvation  from 
ruin.  So  with  the  man  who  has  daily  inured  himself  to  habits 
of  concentrated  attention,  energetic  volition,  and  self-denial 
in  unnecessary  things.  He  will  stand  like  a  tower  when  eveiy- 
Ihing  rocks  around  him,  and  when  his  softer  fellow-mortals 
are  winnowed  like  chaff  in  the  blast." 

The  habit  of  making  new  habits.  One  of  the  best  ways  in 
which  to  keep  in  the  way  of  making  progress  beyond  the  old 
methods,  the  old  ways  of  thinking,  feeling  and  acting  is  to 
form  the  habit  of  making  new  habits.  There  is  something 
stimulating  and  invigorating  about  the  making  of  a  new  habit. 
There  is  no  need  for  more  than  one  settled  kind  of  response 
in  many  of  the  situations  of  life,  perhaps,  in  most  of  the  situ- 
ations. But  several  kinds  of  response  for  situations  that  re- 
quire new  adaptations,  offer  just  the  possibility  of  keeping 
pliable  and  avoiding  narrowness.  The  most  valuable  tenden- 
cy of  several  may  thus  be  chosen  according  to  the  circum- 
stances. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  Show  the  needs  for  habits  in  the  individual. 

2.  What  are  the  effects  of  habit  formation?     Do  all  habits 


62  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

have  the  same  effect  as  regards  the  presence  and  absence  of 
consciousness? 

3.  Discuss  the  desirability  of  getting  accuracy  before  at- 
tempting speed. 

4.  Think  of  some  desirable  habit  you  might  make  and 
make  a  list  of  the  factors  you  could  use  best  to  help  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  habit. 

5.  What  are  the  greatest  obstacles  to  habit  formation? 

6.  Discuss  the  best  methods  of  breaking  a  bad  habit. 

7.  How  may  habits  make  for  a  contemptible  character? 

8.  How  may  habits  be  the  greatest  safeguards  against 
temptation. 

REFERENCES. 

Book,  W.  F.  The  Psychology  of  Skill,  with  Special  Reference  to  its 
Acquisition  in  Typewriting.  Univ.  of  Montana  Pub.  in  Psychol.,  Bull. 
No.  53,  Psychol.  Series  No.  1,  1908. 

JuDD,  C.  H.  The  Psychology  of  High  School  Subjects.  Ginn  and 
Co.,  1915.     Ch.  12. 

James,  W.  Psychology,  Briefer  Course.  Ch.  10.  Or  Principles  of 
Psychology.     Vol.  1,  Ch.  4. 

RowE,  S.  H.  Habit  Formation  and  the  Science  of  Teaching.  Long- 
mans, Green  and  Co.,  1916. 


Chapter  5. 
ACQUISITION  WHICH  INVOLVES  STUDY. 

The  acquisition  of  knowledge.  Lower  organisms  come  into 
life  and  seem  to  adapt  themselves  with  comparative  ease  to 
their  environment.  Thej^  do  adapt  themselves  with  less  dif- 
ficulty than  the  higher  organisms.  This  is  true,  partly,  be- 
cause their  inherited  tendencies  sufiice  to  a  very  large  degree 
to  adapt  them,  and  partly,  because  they  have  no  such  complex 
environment  to  which  to  become  adapted  as  have  the  higher 
organisms.  It  is,  however,  not  until  we  come  to  the  highest 
form  of  life,  namely,  man,  that  we  find  the  learning  process 
must  go  on  for  a  good  many  years  before  the  individual  is  pre- 
pared to  do  what  human  beings  consider  really  effective  liv- 
ing. And  it  is  only  in  the  years  beyond  babyhood  and  earliest 
childhood  that  the  conscious,  self  directed  learning,  called 
study  goes  on.     The  young  child  can  learn  but  he  cannot  study. 

When  he  does  come  to  study,  in  the  home,  in  the  school 
room,  on  the  playground,  or  later  in  professional  life,  certain 
mental  processes  are  necessary  and  fundamental.  Of  these 
processes  we  may  mention  as  perhaps  the  most  important,  the 
ones  that  enter  into  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  through  the 
senses,  the  making  of  judgments,  the  getting  of  clear  concep- 
tions, and  memorizing  or  making  permanent,  or,  at  least,  com- 
paratively permanent  the  acquisitions. 

The' larger"  activities  just  mentioned  are  made  possible  in 
different  ways.  The  gathering  of  facts  may  be  by  means  of 
observation,  by  reading,  by  conversation,  or  by  recall  of  facts 
formerly  learned  and  by  reasoning.  Clear  ideas  may  be  had 
through  sufTiciently  careful  and  prolonged  observation,  or  by 
turning  over  in  mind  ideas  recalled  or  thought  out.  The  de- 
sired judgments  can  be  made  only  through  careful  reasoning 
with  relevant  ideas. 

In  ac(fuisition  selection  is  always  going  on.  One  selects  cer- 
tain factors  rather  than  others  in  the  study  of  external  things; 
one  selects  some  ideas  rather  than  others  in  reasoning.  There 
is  always  a  grouping  of  thoughts;  ideas  are  grouped  with  other 
ideas  already  present;  indeed,  either  for  understanding  or  for 
remembering,  there  must  be  some  grouping  or  associating  of 

63 


64  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

ideas.  There  is  always  some  degree  of  impressing,  of  inaking 
the  tendency  to  remember.  Other  processes  might  be  men- 
tioned. In  the  present  chapter  we  shall  deal  in  turn  with  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge  through  the  senses,  and  the  acquisi- 
tion of  knowledge  through  reasoning.  We  may  in  fact  classi- 
fy all  kinds  of  learning  under  these  two  heads  for  practical 
reasons.  We  might,  of  course,  have  another  division  of  asso- 
ciative learning.  But  again  let  it  be  said  and  emphasized  that 
association  goes  on  in  all  kinds  of  learning  and  we  prefer  ta 
deal  with  it  in  this  way. 

Acquisition  through  the  senses:  observational  learning.. 
Four  factors  which  determine  our  perceptions  can  be  men- 
tioned. These  are  the  objects  themselves,  the  contents  of  con- 
sciousness,  mental  habits,  and  physiological  conditions. 

1.  The  external  object.  The  physical  object  obviously 
enough  is  one  determinant  of  perception.  The  stimulus  ar- 
ouses the  sense  organ.  But  the  sensory  processes  alone  are 
not  sufficient.  The  first  sights,  sounds,  feelings  and  the  like, 
of  the  infant  are  not  the  same  as  the  sights,  sounds  and  feel- 
ings of  the  adult.  We  are  reasonably  sure  that  there  are  no 
"perceptions"  in  the  first  experiences  of  the  infant.  The  im- 
pressions at  first  have  no  meaning.  The  object  is  not  seen  as 
the  particular  object  which  it  is. 

2.  The  contents  of  consciousness.  A  particularly  instruc- 
tive case  which  illustrates  the  second  factor  is  that  of  a  man 
who  was  born  blind  and  received  his  sight  by  an  operation 
when  an  adult.  He  gazed  at  objects  which  were  familiar  to 
him  through  touch,  but  was  unable  to  recognize  them  until  he 
felt  of  them.  Not  until  past  experience,  in  the  form  of  im- 
agery if  you  please,  supplemented  his  sense  impressions, 
could  he  "perceive"  through  the  sense  of  sight.  In  the  same 
way,  knowledge  that  one  has,  determines  whether  or  not  one 
can  read  a  page  of  Latin  or  of  any  other  language.  Knowl- 
edge of  an  object  makes  it  possible  to  observe  more  details  of 
the  object. 

3.  Mental  habits.  Mental  habits  also  have  a  areat  deal  to 
do  with  our  perceptions.  A  good  illustration  of  this  is  afford- 
ed by  the  clock  in  the  Court  House  tower  in  Minneapolis.  I 
fell  into  the  habit  of  asking  my  students  what  kind  of  numer- 
als there  are  on  the  face  of  this  clock.  Most  of  them  answer- 
ed Roman,  a  few  said  Arabic,  and  a  few  that  there  are  na 
numerals  on  the  face  of  this  particular  clock.  The  latter  few 
were  correct;  there  are  none.     But  many  people  have  'seen" 


ACQUISITION    WHICH   INVOLVES   STUDY  65 

Ihem  and  I  am  sure  that  I  'saw'  them  once  or  twice  before  I 
discovered  that  I  had  a  good  example  of  illusion  to  use  for  my 
classes  in  beginning  psychology.  On. the  face  of  this  clock 
twelve  single  bars  are  used  in  place  of  numerals;  but  people 
tend  to  *see'  what  they  are  in  the  habit  of  seeing. 

4.  Physiological  processes.  The  correcting  of  physical  de- 
fects of  school  children  has  impressed  those  at  all  conversant 
with  the  facts  that  the  physiological  processes  of  the  body  and 
especially  those  of  the  nervous  system  are  exceedingly  impor- 
tant. In  fact,  when  we  state  the  exact  truth,  we  are  obliged 
to  say  that  mental  activity,  of  whatever  kind,  is  absolutely  de- 
pendent upon  the  underlying  physiological  activities.  Mental 
defects  correlate  with  brain  defects.  The  removal  of  defects 
of  eye  and  ear  and  of  adenoids  is  followed  by  improvement  in 
school  work.  More  will  be  said  on  this  subject  in  the  chapter 
on  Physical  and  Physiological  Conditions.  Suffice  it  to  say 
here  that  observational  learning  as  well  as  any  other  kind  of 
learning  depends  directly  upon  good  neural  activity. 

Attention.  One  of  the  results  of  attention  is  better  intellec- 
tual work.  The  better  the  attention,  the  better  the  intellectual 
activity.  Attention  means  mental  clearness.  Genius,  we  are 
told,  is  only  a  "protracted  attention."  And  it  is  this  getting 
ideas  clear  and  having  them  clear  for  a  sufficiently  long  time 
that  is  one  of  the  essentials  in  learning  and  especially  in  study. 

Attention  to  the  object,  the  page,  the  speaker,  is  of  prime 
importance  in  this  kind  of  learning;  attention  which  is  defin- 
itely directed  to  the  things  which  are  to  be  remembered.  This 
attention  needs  to  be,  not  spasmodic  and  wandering,  but  sus- 
tained. 

Thoroughness.  The  completeness  of  observational  learn- 
ing, Meumann  tells  us,  aids  the  memory.  Where  things  are 
left  out,  where  there  are  lost  links,  so  to  speak,  memory  fails 
to  find  the  connections  which  should  be  present.  Thorough- 
ness is  essential,  but  just  what  thoroughness  means  in  a  given 
case  is  a  matter  of  judgment.  Only  by  fulfilling  the  require- 
ments of  a  task  is  one  sufficiently  thorough,  but  thoroughness 
in  finishing  a  woodshed  is  different  from  thoroughness  in  fin- 
ishing parlor  decorations.  A  student  may  not  be  sufficiently 
thorough  even  if  he  docs  all  the  exercises  in  a  given  lesson; 
he  may  be  much  more  thorough  if  he  does  half  of  the  exercis- 
es and  masters  the  principles  involved.  But  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  it  is  the  doing  over  and  over  again  that  makes 
rn  acquisition  wholly  ours.     Again  a  student  may  not  be  suf- 


66  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    .\ND    STUDY 

ficiently  thorough  even  though  he  memorizes  all  the  facts  in 
a  chapter;  he  may  be  more  thorough  if  he  chooses  only  the  im^ 
portant  facts  and  understands  them. 

There  is  a  quotation  in  Porter's  famous  old  book  entitled,. 
**The  Elements  of  Intellectual  Science"  that  is  worthy  of  the 
consideration  of  anyone  who  would  become  a  real  student: 
"The  late  Sir  Thomas  Folwell  Burton  advised  his  sons  in  the 
following  golden  words:  'What  you  know,  know  thoroughly.' 

There  are  few  instances  in  modern  times  of  a  rise  equal 

to  that  of  Sir  Edward  Sugden I  ventured  to   ask  him, 

What  was  the  secret  of  his  success;  his  answer  was:  'I  resolv- 
ed, when  beginning  to  read  law,  to  make  everything  I  acquir- 
ed perfectly  my  own,  and  never  to  go  to  a  second  thing  until 
I  had  entirely  accomplished  the  first.  Many  of  my  competi- 
tors read  as  much  in  a  day  as  I  read  in  a  week;  but  at  the  end 
of  twelve  months,  my  knowledge  was  as  fresh  as  on  the  day 
it  was  acquired,  while  theirs  had  glided  away  from  their  rec- 
ollection.' " 

Observation  with  definite  expectation.  Observational  study 
may  go  on  under  either  one  of  two  conditions :  first,  with  def- 
inite expectation  of  the  things  that  are  to  be  noted;  second, 
under  the  problem  of  making  a  complete  observation  of  every- 
thing under  consideration.  The  results  of  the  observations 
with  and  without  definite  expectation  are  sure  to  be  different 
in  most  cases.  With  the  expectation  present  a  person  finds 
what  he  is  seeking  more  quickly;  he  is  surer  of  it  when  he  sees 
it;  and  he  has  a  more  comfortable  feeling  in  being  able  to  say, 
this  is  not  it  and  that  is  not  it,  and  finally,  this  is  it  and  I  know 
it;  this  looks  exactly  like  the  picture  in  the  book,  or  it  is  ex- 
actly what  the  teacher  described. 

But  beware!  The  clear  imagination  of  the  thing  to  be  ob- 
served is  all  too  likely  to  make  one  see  it  as  he  imagines  it 
rather  than  as  it  is,  or  possibly  to  think  he  sees  it  even  if  it  is 
not  present.  Students  find  what  they  are  looking  for  whether 
it  is  there  or  not.  In  the  laboratory  they  find  structures 
whether  the  microscope  reveals  them  or  not.  Or  they  see 
something  else  and  mistake  it  for  the  thing  which  is  clearly 
imagined  in  their  own  minds.  The  fact  was  reported  to  me 
recently  that  for  a  number  of  years  instructors  in  a  certain 
subject  had  "seen"  a  certain  structure  which  had  been  report- 
ed to  exist  in  a  certain  kind  of  plant.  The  existence  of  this 
structure  was  believed  for  several  years  and  was  found  by 
many  students.     A  more  intensive  study  of  the  same  plant 


ACQUISITION   WHICH   INVOLVES   STUDY 

later  proved  that  no  such  structure  existed.  The  triumph  of 
suggestion  over  perception.  The  student  who  knows  definite- 
ly what  he  is  looking  for,  must  then,  make  his  observation  as 
true  to  the  facts  as  possible  to  avoid  the  influence  of  mislead- 
ing suggestions. 

"Apperception."  As  commonly  used,  apperception  prob- 
ably means  nothing  more  than  perception,  except  that  it  may 
serve  to  emphasize  the  meaning  side  of  the  perception.  It  is 
true  that  a  person  must  interpret  in  terms  of  the  knowledge 
that  he  has;  that  is  the  only  possible  way.  The  more  he 
knows  when  he  reads  a  book  or  hears  a  lecture,  the  more  he 
can  understand  and  remember.  The  student  generally  has 
too  few  ideas  under  which  to  classify  the  new  facts;  one  im- 
portant work  of  an  education  is  to  develop  more  and  more 
heads  under  which  to  classify  new  facts.  In  this  way  classify- 
ing can  be  more  accurate.  Getting  mentally  fossilized  is 
mostly  a  matter  of  being  unable  to  develop  new  ideas  with 
which  to  understand  and  to  classify.  Taking  one  point  of 
view  may  lead  one  to  over  look  others.  And  one  should  re- 
member that  it  is  safe  to  look  at  problems  from  more  than 
one  point  of  view. 

Observation  for  complete  analysis.  In  the  second  place, 
observation  may  be  made  for  complete  analysis.  A  problem 
may  be  set:  to  analyze  as  completely  as  possible  this  plant,  or 
that  tissue  in  anatomy,  or  the  reaction  in  the  test  tube,  that  is, 
to  note  whatever  there  is  to  note.  Here  the  student  loses  the 
limiting  eff'ect  of  definite  expectation,  and  he  needs  to  limit 
the  attention  by  the  problem,  noting  only  the  things  that  are 
pertinent  to  his  problem.  If  he  is  to  note  everything  possible, 
to  make  an  exhaustive  analysis,  the  limitation  of  the  attention 
is  not  so  vital;  but  here  one  should  at  least  be  systematic  and 
observe  first  one  kind  of  fact  and  then  another,  for  example, 
facts  in  relation  to  form,  then  to  color,  then  to  texture,  etc.,  or 
in  whatever  order  the  material  and  problem  demand.  Points 
of  view  should  be  present  to  the  student  from  his  general  in- 
formation, and  others  should  present  themselves  as  the  study 
proceeds.  The  results  of  such  study  are  to  be  verified  by  re- 
peated observation  and  by  comparison  with  the  results  of 
others.  It  may  also  be  remarked  that  besides  the  details  to  be 
noted,  one  should  not  forget  to  note  the  impression  of  the  thing 
as  a  whole,  that  is,  the  general  or  total  impression. 

Learning  by  trial  and  error.  What  is  commonly  known  as 
the  trial  and  error  method  of  learning  off*ers  a  means  of  pro- 


68  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

ducing  results  that  the  student  can  observe  and  from  which 
he  can  select  those  results  and  methods  that  are  suitable  for 
his  purpose.  It  should  be  remembered  that  the  trial  and  er- 
ror method  may  waste  much  time,  but  for  simple  things  it  may 
give  a  solution  quickly  and  save  time  required  for  reasoning. 
If  the  method  is  used  systematically,  as  by  the  inventor,  it  may 
give  results  that  could  be  had  in  no  other  way.  This  is  the 
method  by  which  Edison  is  said  to  have  discovered  the  fili- 
ment  for  the  incandescent  lamp.  One  kind  of  material  was 
used  after  the  other  and  cast  aside  until  finally  the  acceptable 
material  was  found.  The  value  of  a  theory  obtained  by  reas- 
oning, the  usefulness  of  a  new  piece  of  apparatus,  can  be 
known  only  through  trying  and  observing  the  results  of  the 
trials. 

Imitation.  Imitation  has  its  limitations;  it  permits  one  to 
progress  no  farther  than  the  model,  and  the  value  of  results  is 
directly  dependent  upon  the  correctness  of  the  model.  Above 
all,  one  should  realize  how  much  is  learned  through  uncon- 
scious imitation,  that  is,  imitation  of  which  the  imitator  is  un- 
conscious: the  acquiring  of  a  language,  of  the  accent,  of  the 
feeling  for  a  language,  pronunciation,  manner  of  acting  and 
of  talking,  all  are  or  may  be  learned  largely  by  imitation  of 
which  the  learner  is  hardly  conscious  and  all  too  likely  not  at 
all  critical.  Some  of  the  things  that  go  the  deepest  and  are 
the  hardest  to  eradicate  are  learned  by  this  method.  This 
fact  alone  makes  it  imperative  that  one  have  for  teachers 
those  whom  one  can  imitate  to  advantage.  The  need  for  a 
fine  personality  in  the  teacher  comes  from  the  tendency  to- 
wards unconscious  imitation  on  the  part  of  the  student. 

Note-taking.  Learning  through  the  senses  is  likely  to  in- 
volve taking  notes.  Taking  notes  is  a  difficult  art.  Reviewing 
poor  notes  for  an  examination  is  the  cause  of  some  if  not  of 
many  failures.     A  few  suggestions  are  pertinent. 

Just  as  all  study  should  be  topical,  so  all  note-taking  should 
be  topical.  The  first  thing  is  to  know  the  general  subject  or 
problem;  next  to  get  the  first  main  head,  then  the  sub-heads 
under  this  with  illustrations  for  each  point  if  possible;  next 
the  second  main  head  with  the  sub-heads  and  illustrations; 
next  the  third  main  head,  and  so  on. 

Note  specific  facts  and  the  exceptions  to  the  facts;  both  are 
valuable.  Be  sure  to  put  down  self  explanatory  headings,  not 
mere  headings  that  suggest  that  there  were  facts  of  some  kind 
given.     Get  the  facts.     Do  not  fall  into  the  bad  habit  of  mere- 


ACQUISITION   WHICH   INVOLVES   STUDY  69 

ly  getting  general  impressions.  If  an  address  is  for  the  pur- 
pose of  inspiring,  be  inspired  if  you  can;  this  is  not  the  kind 
of  talk  of  which  to  take  notes. 

For  accuracy  use  the  words  of  the  speaker;  for  speed  in  get- 
ting things  written,  learn  to  put  into  your  own  words  and  to 
abbreviate.  Use  shorthand  expressions  and  learn  the  words 
that  can  be  omitted  without  loss  of  meaning.  Be  brief;  the 
fewer  notes  you  take,  the  more  likely  you  will  be  to  choose  the 
more  important  things  or  at  least  to  have  a  chance  to  train 
yourself  to  do  this,  and,  what  is  also  very  important,  you  can 
attend  to  the  thoughts  expressed  and  not  be  so  liable  to  put 
down  one  thought  and  lose  two.  Taking  complete  statements 
means  a  loss  of  time  and  is  of  very  questionable  advantage  in 
the  long  run.  Occasionally  a  full  statement,  or  a.  definition, 
should  be  taken.  As  a  rule  you  can  find  a  sufficient  number 
of  full  statements  in  the  text-books.  Remember  anyway  that 
the  speaker  gives  more  than  you  are  to  get  into  your  notes  or 
than  you  need  to  remember.  Get  the  important  things  with 
examples  to  make  them  clear. 

Improvement  in  the  art  comes  through  practice.  The  writ- 
ing itself  should  become  largely  mechanical.  Train  yourself 
to  give  the  maximum  of  attention  to  the  thought  and  to  the 
selection  of  what  you  shall  write  and  a  minimum  of  attention 
to  the  writing  itself. 

Acquisition  by  Reasoning.  In  reasoning  the  emphasis  is  on 
the  selection  of  ideas,  meanings,  consequences.  The  picking 
out  and  ordering  of  material,  facts,  ideas,  according  to  mean- 
ing, is  the  fundamental  and  essential  thing  to  both  understand- 
ing and  remembering.  The  student,  the  public  speaker,  any- 
one, indeed,  with  a  reasonably  good  memory,  finds  it  possible 
to  memorize  unorganized  material;  but  that  which  is  organiz- 
ed can  be  mastered  much  more  quickly.  If  the  material  that 
one  studies  is  not  presented  with  a  sufficient  degree  of  organ- 
ization, the  student  will  do  best  to  organize  it  for  himself,  both 
for  ease  of  understanding  and  for  subsequent  ability  to  recall 
it. 

Study  of  this  kind  follows  one  of  two  directions,  either  the 
thinking  through  the  thoughts  of  another  as  found  in  his  writ- 
ten (Uscourse  or  speech,  or  in  the  relatively  independent  reas- 
oning carried  on  by  the  use  of  ideas  present  in  one's  own  mem- 
ory. The  two  situations  are,  so  far  as  the  nature  of  the  prob- 
lems of  study  go,  very  largely  the  same  with  one  exception; 
in  the  latter  case  the  student  is  dependent  upon  the  richness 


70  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

and  readiness  of  his  own  mind  to  furnish  the  ideas  with  which 
to  reason. 

Selection  and  organization.  Taking  selection  and  organiz- 
ation of  material  as  the  most  vital  things  to  be  accomplished 
in  study  of  this  kind,  how  shall  we  proceed?  It  is  found,  as 
might  be  expected,  that  attention  to  meaning  is  best.  The  re- 
alization of  the  general  problem,  of  the  point  at  issue,  of  the 
purpose  or  aim  should  be  sought  first;  then  the  leading 
thoughts  and  the  subsidiary  thoughts  for  each  leading  thought. 
Every  concrete  example  that  is  given  or  that  can  be  found  is 
a  help  in  getting  the  ideas  clear,  in  knowing  not  vaguely  but 
exactly  what  is  meant.  Concrete  examples,  thinking  in  terms 
of  definite  objects,  etc.,  are  valuable  especially  if  the  matter  is 
descriptive.  Attention  to  temporal  relations  is  important  if 
the  matter  is  narrative;  and  the  logical  relations  help  wher- 
ever they  can  be  found  in  any  kind  of  material.  Concrete  ex- 
amples are  always  valuable,  and  the  ability  to  give  a  concrete 
example  is  a  good  test  of  clearness  of  thought.  Experience 
seems  to  show  that  a  mastery  of  material  is  aided  very  greatly 
by  outlining  and  then  mastering  the  outline.  The  outline  em- 
phasizes the  important  thoughts,  and  shows  relations  between 
them;  making  the  outline  directs  attention  upon  one  point 
after  another,  assuring  the  student  of  attention  to  each  point 
which  goes  into  his  outline.  Putting  the  thoughts  into  one's 
own  words  may  help  also. 

Essence  of  reasoning.  The  essence  of  all  reasoning  lies  in 
the  choosing  or  rejecting,  the  affirming  or  denying  of  any  ideas 
or  rather  series  of  ideas  that  are  present  in  succeeding  mom- 
ents in  mind.  One  such  affirmation  or  negation  is  a  judgment; 
a  series  of  such  judgments  constitutes  reasoning.  The  raw 
material  of  the  reasoning  is  the  ideas  of  which  something  is 
to  be  affirmed  or  denied.  The  highest  type  of  reasoning,  so- 
called,  requires  that  the  former  ideas  be  attributes  of  some 
larger  complex,  or  of  some  phase  of  a  situation,  some  partly 
hidden  quality  perhaps;  and  being  able  to  affirm  or  to  deny 
the  consequences  of  these. 

The  problem  for  the  student.  The  problem  for  the  student, 
when  he  is  to  do  something  more  than  merely  follow  the 
course  of  reasoning  of  someone  else,  is  to  reason  correctly  for 
himself.  What  helps  to  this  do  we  find?  The  study  of  logic 
may  help  or  it  may  not;  it  depends  on  how  it  is  taught  and 
how  it  is  studied.  But  if  it  or  anything  else  demands  certain 
practice,  especially,  in  the  way  of  correct  thinking,  or  if  the 


ACQUISITION   WHICH   INVOLVES   STUDY  71 

student  demands  it  of  himself  he  may  expect  to  come  into  the 
habit  of  correct  reasoning. 

Helps  to  the  habits  of  correct  thinking.  Following  through 
good  reasoning  of  others  is  a  valuable  aid.  This  is  made  pos- 
sible both  by  the  written  and  spoken  words  of  another.  It  is  . 
obvious  that  one  should  choose  only  books  in  which  the  think- 
ing is  correct,  clear,  and  helpful,  not  books  which  are  vague 
and  confused.  Reasoning  with  others  and  finding  one's  mis- 
takes in  the  criticisms  of  others  and  in  the  inability  to  make 
one's  arguments  go  clearly  and  strikingly  home  to  the  other 
party  in  the  discussion;  studying  one's  own  language  and  de- 
veloping one's  vocabulary,  these  are  essential.  Advance  in 
thought  and  language  will  be  found  to  go  along  together. 

Another  help  lies  in  the  checking  of  the  results  of  reasoning 
by  trials  or  by  experiment.  In  other  words,  learn  to  verify. 
This  is  done  in  the  business  and  professional  world  and 
should  be  practised  by  the  student.  A  sufficient  fund  of 
knowledge  on  which  to  do  the  reasoning  is  necessary;  obser- 
vation, recall  in  memory,  all  the  results  of  past  thinking  are 
foundations  for  reasoning.  Practice  in  picking  out  the  essen- 
tial attribute  or  phase  of  a  situation,  or  fact  that  in  this  partic- 
ular case  leads  to  the  right  conclusion,  and  knowledge  of  right 
and  wrong  ways  of  thinking,  common  errors  in  thinking  and 
how  to  avoid  them,  all  help. 

The  value  of  ideas.  Ideas,  it  is  seen,  are  useful  in  sev- 
eral ways:  they  permit  a  wider  range  of  possible  judgments 
and  therefore  of  possible  modes  of  action;  they  permit  the  af- 
firmation or  the  denial  of  a  reasoned  conclusion,  which  means 
perhaps  great  economy.  So  far  as  action  goes,  this  means 
that  memory  can  present  what  observation  cannot  in  the  way 
of  suggesting  the  right  performance;  a  course  of  action  may 
be  rehearsed  mentally  and  judged  to  be  satisfactory  or  unsat- 
isfactory without  the  need  of  actually  trying  out  and  losing 
time.  Ideas  may  suggest  several  thin.es  and  the  best  tried  first 
thus  bringing  a  saving  of  time  and  eff'ort. 

Age  and  learning.  In  the  modern  tendency  to  think  tliat 
all  types  of  learning  are  about  equally  important  at  all  ages, 
we  may  fall  into  the  way  of  thinking  that  age,  after  all,  is  not 
so  very  important  as  a  factor  in  acquisition.  Recent  experi- 
ments tend  to  show  that  students  in  the  elementary  school 
carry  on  reflective  thinking  in  the  same  general  manner  as  do 
high  school  pupils.  All  of  which  may  be  true,  but  if  it  is  true, 
it  does  not  in  any  way  go  to  show  that  a  greater  amount  of  re- 


72  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

fective  thinking  for  younger  pupils  is  a. step  in  the  direction 
of  economy. 

The  more  important  question  in  relation  to  age,  is  not  just 
what  should  come  early,  but  that  acquisitions  that  are  to  be 
made,  be  made  as  early  as  possible.  It  seems  that  we  can  do 
no  better  than  to  go  back  to  James'  statement:  "The  greatest 
thing,  then,  in  all  education,  is  to  make  our  nervous  system 
our  ally  instead  of  our  enemy.  It  is  to  fund  and  capitalize  our 
acquisitions,  and  live  at  ease  upon  the  interest  of  the  fund. 
For  this  we  must  make  automatic  and  habitual,  as  early  as 
possible,  as  many  useful  actions  as  we  can,  and  guard  against 
the  growing  into  ways  that  are  likely  to  be  disadvantageous 
to  us,  as  we  should  guard  against  the  plague." 

The  truth  is  that  the  earlier  we  make  acquisitions  the  more 
they  become  a  part  of  us.  The  better  the  habits  the  better 
foundation  we  have  for  all  later  acquisitions.  And,  further- 
more, the  better  we  have  guarded  against  poorer  and  less 
economical  learning. 

Josfs  law.  Jost's  law  states  that  "Of  two  associations  which 
are  of  equal  strength  but  of  different  ages,  the  older  receives 
the  greater  intensification  from  a  new  repetition."  Surely 
economy  appears  to  lie  in  early  acquisition.  This  does  not 
mean  to  imply  that  health  of  the  young  child  should  in  any 
way  be  endangered.  Health  is  the  first  and  most  important 
thing  for  the  young. 

Let  us  add  the  fact  that  some  kind  of  habits  are  formed  any- 
way by  the  child  in  his  earliest  years  and  the  educational  prob- 
lem resolves  itself  not  into  how  early  shall  education  begin 
but  into  the  problem  of  determining  what  those  early  habits 
shall  be.  After  all,  then,  it  is  merely  a  choice  of  what  habits 
shall  be  formed  in  the  earliest  years.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  education  will  be  directed  and  only  the  best  habits  be 
formed.  We  say,  of  course,  and  then  forget  the  matter,  that 
children  know  more  than  we  give  them  credit  for.  Yes,  they 
do,  and  they  are  forming  habits  of  thinking,  feeling  and  doing, 
which  we  undertake  altogether  too  late  many  times  to  deal 
with. 

Subjects  to  be  taught  at  different  ages.  To  come  back  to  the 
less  important  problem,  which  is,  however,  of  considerable  im- 
portance. How  much  should  age  determine  the  content  of 
what  is  taught?  The  common  view,  which  has  been  current 
for  a  long  time,  is  that  up  to  the  age  of  about  eight  or  nine,  the 
student  is  preeminently  fitted  to  do  memory  work  and  not 


ACQUISITION   WHICH   INVOLVES   STUDY 


73 


very  well  able  to  do  work  that  involves  much  reasoning.  After 
this  age  he  is  especially  fitted  to  study  things  that  involve  reas- 
oning. As  Parker  puts  it:  "It  is  commonly  maintained  that 
the  age  from  six  to  fourteen  is  the  best  age  for  learning  a  lan- 
guage and  for  acquiring  motor  skill,  and  that  adolescence  is 
the  golden  age  for  reasoning."  The  newer  conception  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  same  author  as  follows:  "In  opposition  to  this 
general  point  of  view  this  chapter  maintains  that  all  types  of 
learning  are  important  at  all  ages."     (73). 

Out  of  the  conflict  of  facts  and  opinions  it  is  probably  too 
early  to  draw  many  conclusions.  But  it  is  certain  that  some 
reflective  thinking  is  beyond  the  grasp  of  children;  and  furth- 
er that  some  reflective  thinking  that  they  can  do  can  not  be 
dealt  with  economically  till  a  later  age. 


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Fig,  I,     Percent  '»{  t»l)scrvers  who  did  better  work  in  reading  silently  and  aloud. 
Pintner  and  Gilliland).     J.  Ed.   Psychol.,  7:1916,  210. 


74  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

The  question  is  not  what  they  can  do,  merely,  but  what  can 
they  do  most  economically?  And  this  is,  probably,  for  the 
most  part  to  be  determined. 

Other  conclusions.  It  seems  possible  at  this  time  to  state  a 
few  other  conclusions  relative  to  age.  Younger  children  lack 
a  wide  range  of  information  for  use  as  the  basis  for  reasoning. 
Children  before  adolescence  have  fewer  and  in  many  cases  no 
ideals,  and  lack  in  determination,  purpose,  and  "mental 
grasp."  They  are  more  bothered  and  distracted  by  their  feel- 
ings. There  is  greater  fatigue  for  the  same  amount  of  work 
and  shorter  study  periods  are  necessary.  Silent  reading  is 
faster  than  oral  reading  after  about  the  fourth  grade.  See 
Fig.  1.  Arithmetic  is  learned  much  more  quickly  after  about 
ten  years  of  age.  The  study  of  grammar  shows  relatively 
poor  results  with  children,  and  much  better  results  with 
adults. 

What  subjects  should  be  taught  at  certain  ages  is  also  com- 
plicated by  social  problems  which  are  very  important.  The 
question  has  been  raised  especially  in  connection  with  the 
teaching  of  foreign  languages  to  young  people.  Many  child- 
ren will  never  use  foreign  languages  and  many  parents  have 
objected  to  teaching  them  until  it  is  known  that  children  will 
need  them.  When  it  is  found  that  a  child  will  need  a  certain 
language,  it  is  argued,  then  is  time  enough  to  teach  him  that 
language. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  What  are  the  main  kinds  of  learning?  Why  do  you  dis- 
tinguish these? 

2.  Classify  the  kinds  of  learning  in  as  many  different  ways 
as  you  can.  What  new  facts  can  you  learn  from  making  dif- 
ferent classifications? 

3.  What  reason  can  you  give  for  not  considering  associ- 
ative learning  as  a  separate  kind  of  learning? 

4.  In  learning  through  the  senses  what  are  the  most  im- 
portant conditions  of  learning? 

5.  What  errors  are  most  likely  to  occur  in  this  kind  of 
learning? 

6.  In  what  ways  can  you  improve  your  methods  of  taking 
notes? 

7.  How  is  learning  by  reasoning  different  from  observa- 
tional learning? 


ACQUISITION   WHICH   INVOLVES   STUDY  75 

8.  What  have  been  the  greatest  helps  to  you  in  learning 
how  to  reason?  How  can  you  improve  your  reasoning  in 
ways  that  you  have  not  tried? 

9.  Will  practice  in  correct  reasoning  help  you  in  other 
fields  besides  the  fields  in  which  the  practice  occurs?  (See 
chapter  on  The  Transfer  of  Acquisitions:  General  Training). 

10.  How  far  should  age  determine  what  should  be  taught 
and  studied?      How  far  should  other  factors  determine  this? 

REFERENCES. 

Bagley,  W.  C.  The  Educative  Process.  The  Macmillan  Co.,  1906. 
Ch.  12. 

CoLviN,  S.  S.  The  Learning  Process.  The  Macmillan  Co.,  1911. 
Pp.  2.19-329. 

Dewey,  John.     Hoiv  We  Think.     D.  C.  Heath  and  Co.,  1910. 

James,  W.  The  Principles  of  Psijchologu.  H.  Holt  and  Co., 
Vol.  1:  459-482;  Vol.  2:  323-360. 

Parker,  S.  C.  Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  Schools.  Ginn  and  Co., 
1915.     Ch.  13. 

PiLLSRURY,  W.  B.  The  Psychologij  of  Reasoning.  D.  Appleton  and 
Co.,  1910. 

Swain,  G.  F.     How  to  Study.     McGraw-HiU  Book  CQv»  Inc.*  1917. 


Chapter  6. 
WAYS  OF  THINKING  AND  PITFALLS  FOR  THE  STUDENT. 

Common  tendencies  in  intellectual  activity.  The  economy 
of  study  demands  that  the  student's  thinking  be  accurate.  It 
is  of  value  then,  to  note  the  common  natural  tendencies  in  the 
world  of  thought;  some  of  them  are  very  likely  to  lead  one  as- 
tray. They  are  all  valuable  in  their  places  and  when  used 
correctly.  So  easily  does  one  fall  into  the  pitfalls  of  incorrect 
thinking  that  students  often  become  skeptical  of  reasoning  al- 
together. History  reveals  blunder  after  blunder  in  the  reas- 
oning of  men.  It  reveals  also  the  travail  through  which  man 
passed  to  find  correct  solutions  for  his  problems.  A  review 
of  the  intellectual  efforts  of  man  permits  us  to  note  the  advan- 
tages and  disadvantages  of  his  modes  of  thinking.  Some  of 
these  are  the  subject  matter  of  this  chapter.  Perhaps  the 
most  valuable  service  such  a  chapter  can  render  is  to  point 
out  the  dangerous  bypaths  into  which  one  is  continually  liable 
to  be  led,  many  of  which  he  may  never  notice  if  his  attention 
is  not  called  to  them. 

Predisposition  or  prejudice.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
all  of  our  thinking  is  subject  to  our  particular  prejudice  or 
bias.  Try  as  hard  as  we  will  it  is  practically  impossible  to 
free  ourselves  from  all  prejudice.  Our  points  of  view  have 
been  largely  determined  by  our  home  training.  The  likes  and 
dislikes,  the  hopes  and  beliefs  of  our  dear  ones  have  become  a 
part  of  us.  So  our  political  creed  is  largely  a  matter  of  pre- 
judice with  most  of  us  rather  than  conclusions  cooly  and  care- 
fully thought  out.  Our  hopes  and  our  ambitions  color  our 
thinking.  How  many  of  us  have  believed  that  a  doctrine  was 
right  because  a  dear  friend  accepted  it!  How  much  more  the 
evidence  for  our  side  of  an  argument  weighs  with  us,  even 
though  the  evidence  for  the  other  side  is  better!  We  'preper- 
ceive',  as  James  puts  it,  because  we  already  have  the  image  of 
the  thing  in  mind.  That  is  to  say,  we  see  things  before  they 
have  appeared  for  observation.  More  than  that  we  see  things 
that  cannot  by  any  possibility  appear  for  observation.  Re- 
member the  structure  *seen'  by  the  botanists  in  the  plant  which 
was  afterwards  proved  to  contain  no  such  structure.    We  hear 

76 


WAYS    OF    THINKING  77 

much  about  "party  bias"  and  find  even  in  advanced  students 
evidence  of  the  fact  that  disputes  arise  on  account  of  the  pre- 
judice of  people.  A  man,  for  example,  hears  what  he  wants 
to  hear  in  a  lecture  and  afterwards  in  discussion  with  the  lec- 
turer shows  that  he  has  interpreted  the  statements  of  the  lec- 
ture not  at  all  in  accordance  with  the  intention  of  the  lecturer 
but  according  to  his  own  prejudice. 

Some  predispositions  have  their  advantages;  know  just  what 
you  are  looking  for,  and  if  it  is  there,  you  will  find  and  recog- 
nize it  more  easily.  Espouse  a  cause,  and  you  can  the  more 
easily  find  the  arguments  to  justify  it.  Get  into  sympathy 
with  an  enemy,  and  you  can  more  easily  see  and  understand 
his  situation  and  the  reasons  for  his  actions. 

To  realize  the  presence  and  the  effects  of  predispositions  is 
a  means  and  should  be  a  help  towards  guarding  against  our 
being  misled.  Granted  that  we  cannot  be  without  prejudice 
of  some  kind;  we  can  learn  to  predispose  ourselves  to  know 
exactly  and  clearly  instead  of  to  know  just  this  or  just  that 
and  to  justify  what  we  have  thought  or  believed,  or  want  to 
think  or  to  believe. 

Empathy.  Man  tends  to  humanize  his  surroundings,  and 
the  tendency  harks  back  to  the  childhood  of  the  race.  For 
early  man,  all  that  moved  and  changed  was  supposed  to  have 
thoughts  and  feelings  like  his  own.  As  a  heritage  of  the  child- 
hood thinking  of  the  race  we  have  such  expressions  as  *the 
angry  storm,'  'the  gentle  breeze',  'the  fury  of  the  elements,* 
and  *the  smiling  sky.'  Thus  we  are  prone  to  think  of  the  pil- 
lars that  hold  up  ponderous  weights  in  a  humanizing  kind  of 
way.  We  see  a  pillar,  as  Titchener  puts  it,  "plant  itself  dog- 
gedly under  a  too  heavy  pressure, — precisely  as  a  man  might 
do."  But  we  go  on  to  read  reasoning  into  the  mind  of  the  an- 
imal, and  morality  into  the  mind  of  the  human  infant.  How 
do  we  know  that  the  motive  of  a  certain  writer  was  the  same 
as  we  would  have  had. 

The  tendency  to  interpret  in  terms  of  our  own  mental  pro- 
cesses thus  leads  us  to  very  questionable  conclusions  not  only 
in  the  empathizing  of  inanimate  things  but  in  the  particular 
conclusions  in  regard  to  the  human  being  itself.  To  reason 
our  own  personality  into  things  has  its  basis  in  the  fact  that  we 
are  dependent  upon  our  own  thoughts  for  the  interpretations 
of  things  external  to  ourselves.  But  it  is  obvious  that  the 
tendency  needs  to  be  checked  by  objective  facts. 


78  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

Partial,  hasty  observations  and  false  conclusions.  A  com- 
mon, and  all  too  common,  tendency  is  to  observe  only  partially, 
to  notice  some  outstanding  features  of  the  thing  observed,  of 
the  page  read,  to  get  a  hasty  total  impression  and  afterwards, 
likely  enough,  to  supplement  this  from  imagination.  A  short 
time  ago  a  student  made  a  statement  which  was  obviously  the 
result  of  unconsciously  putting  together  two  halves  of  two  dif- 
ferent sentences.  The  ideas  expressed  in  the  two  sentences 
had  been  missed  and  another  incorrect  one  substituted. 

The  often  quoted  case  of  Agassiz  and  the  fish  furnishes  an 
example  of  that  kind  of  study  which  should  offset  the  hurry- 
ing, superficial  work  of  the  majority  of  our  students.  The 
student  you  remember  thought  he  had  finished  his  observa- 
tional study  of  the  fish  in  a  few  hours.  Agassiz  taught  him 
that  he  could  see  new  things  for  several  days.  To  be  able  to 
perceive  is  an  achievement. 

Learning  by  trial  and  error.  The  trial  and  error  method 
may  most  quickly  show  how  a  simple  piece  of  apparatus 
works;  in  searching  for  the  best  material  for  the  filament  for 
the  incandescent  light  that  method  may  be  the  only  way,  and 
the  inventor  accordingly  chooses  it,  because  it  offers  material 
for  observational  learning  and  reasoning.  But  in  complex 
and  especially  in  dangerous  problems  the  method  may  be  very 
slow  or  hazardous;  a  little  thinking  may  remove  both  the 
waste  of  time  and  the  danger;  the  use  of  reason  may  permit 
one  to  rehearse  former  performances  and  reject  many  useless 
trials;  by  thinking  one  may  select  the  best  way  to  be  tried 
first;  thus  instead  of  shaking  the  clock  to  make  it  go,  one  may 
look  for  the  simple  thing  which  may  set  everything  right  so 
that  it  will  not  soon  stop  again.  But  reasoning  seems  to  be 
unpleasant  for  most  people,  and  they  fall  into  the  easier  habits 
of  the  trial  and  error  method  or  into  the  habit  of  imitating 
wherever  they  can. 

Imitation.  Imitation  gives  us  a  very  large  part  of  our 
habits.  We  unconsciously  imitate  the  language  of  those 
around  us;  we  consciously  imitate  the  methods  of  the  expert 
workman.  There  are  the  advantages  of  directness,  and  con- 
creteness,  awd  a  clear  idea  of  the  thing  to  be  done  and  how  to 
do  it,  economy  of  time  and  high  incentive  if  the  model  is  suf- 
ficiently good.  But  the  poor  model  and  the  mistaken  action 
mislead  the  imitator;  how  much  easier  and  more  expedient  to 
copy  the  poor  model  in  the  shop,  the  poor  system  in  the  office, 
the  time  worn  methods  of  the  mechanic  than  to  think  a  little 
and  to  have  something  better. 


WAYS     OF    THINKING  79 

The  student  whether  he  be  in  college  or  in  business,  should 
choose  the  best  model,  and  should  add  some  reasoning  also. 
The  successful  man  must  have  not  only  sight,  but  insight;  and 
not  only  insight  but  foresight.  It  is  by  seeing  into,  and  throu'gh 
and  beyond;  by  dreaming  out  what  may  be  and  making  those 
dreams  come  true  that  one  transforms  a  job  into  a  position, 
and  is  himself  transformed  from  a  $1000.00  man  into  a  $5000.- 
00  man. 

Careful  rather  than  fast  work.  We  need  to  advise  students 
to  do  careful,  accurate,  work  rather  than  to  do  fast  work.  The 
demands  of  life  will  bring  the  student  to  work  fast.  Speed, 
after  all,  is  one  of  the  late  things  to  acquire.  The  stenograph- 
er works  first  for  accuracy  and  can  later  force  himself  for 
speed.  All  our  knowledge  of  habit  formation,  so  far  as  it 
bears  on  this  subject,  emphasizes  the  need  of  accuracy  first. 
Speed  can  and  will  come  later;  and  later  is  the  only  time  it  can 
come  without  interfering  with  the  quality  of  the  work.  Rapid 
reading  and  skimming  are  work  for  the  very  advanced  stu- 
dent, or  reviewer,  not  for  ever>^one. 

The  tendency  to  get  general  impressions.  When  Professor 
Hiram  Corson,  the  famous  teacher  of  English  literature  at 
Cornell  University,  advised  his  students  to  read  the  plays  of 
Shakespeare,  going  rapidly  over  one  each  evening  until  he  had 
read  them  all,  he  had  in  mind,  as  he  once  told  me,  a  very  val- 
uable point.  That  was  that  it  was  highly  educative  to  get 
bird's  eye  views,  general  impressions,  to  see  in  a  large  view, 
things  in  their  relations,  somewhat  as  one  might  get  their  gene- 
ral impressions  of  a  city  by  going  over  it  in  an  air  ship  or  rid- 
ing through  all  its  principal  streets  in  an  automobile.  Grant 
that  this  is  valuable  and  it  is.  Grant  that  it  is  well  worth  while 
to  get  general  impressions,  to  see  the  significance  of  many 
facts,  to  be  able  to  see  the  principles,  or  fundamental  truths, 
which  may  be  derived  from  detailed  facts.  The  sciences  de- 
mand the  knowledge  of  detailed  facts,  and  the  student  should 
realize  that  if  he  sometimes  studies  for  general  impressions 
alone,  at  many  other  times  he  must  be  very  attentive  to  details 
for  the  purpose  of  having  detailed  knowledge.  It  is  easy  to 
fall  into  the  habit  of  getting  general  impressions;  it  is  not  so 
easy  to  bring  one's  self  to  the  hard  work  of  mastering  details. 

Coincidences  considered  as  matters  of  cause  and  effect. 
One  of  the  most  common  and  misleading  tendencies  is  that  of 
regarding  coincidences,  things  that  occur  together  in  time,   as 


80  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

having  happened  as  cause  and  effect.  It  having  been  observ- 
ed that  accidents  have  befallen  those  who  began  a  journey  on 
Friday,  the  belief  has  arisen  that  the  accident  happened  as  an 
effect  of  the  starting  on  Friday.  One  may  ridicule,  but  such 
superstitions  are  so  deeply  set  in  many  people  that  it  is  con- 
sidered by  some  business  men  a  bad  proposition  to  have  a 
room  numbered  13  in  a  hotel.  If  one  analyzes  like  cases  one 
finds  that  a  few  facts  have  been  observed  and  many  others 
overlooked.  People  have  started  on  Friday  and  had  no  acci- 
dents. Others  have  started  on  other  days  of  the  week  and  met 
with  accidents.  The  illustration  is  typical,  and  the  tendency 
involved  is  universal:  events,  which  are  mere  coincidences, 
are  supposed  to  have  happened  with  some  cause  and  effect 
relationship. 

lamping  to  conclusions  on  the  basis  of  too  few  facts.  Our 
practical  every  day  living  leads  us  to  make  many  inferences 
very  quickly  and  with  brief  observations  that  we  do  not  need 
to  stop  and  verify.  The  advantage  is  obvious;  it  saves 
time  and  in  a  large  percent  of  cases  satisfies  the  requirements 
of  the  situation.  But  this  is  just  the  tendency  that  frequently 
leads  us  astray.  The  student  of  sociology  may  spend  a  few 
hours  in  an  institution  and  from  his  observations  come  to  con- 
clusions which  are  wholly  at  variance  with  the  facts.  Many 
of  those  who  as  students  have  worked  their  way  across  the  At- 
lantic have  found  that  a  few  hours  observation  which  a  pass- 
enger can  enjoy  even  under  the  best  circumstances,  give  in 
many  ways  an  inadequate  idea  of  many  of  the  workings  of 
the  ships.  Not  so  long  ago  people  concluded  that  a  liquid 
would  rise  in  an  inverted  tube  from  which  the  air  had  been 
withdrawn,  because  'nature  abhorred  a  vacuum.' 

One  may  conclude  that  a  certain  method  of  study  is  the  best 
because  of  the  excellent  results  obtained,  e.  g.  memorizing  by 
parts.  Further  facts  may  show  that  another  method  is  better. 
Memorizing  by  wholes  rather  than  by  parts  has  thus  proved  to 
be  better.  The  student  who  makes  observations  in  the  labora- 
tory needs  to  realize  that  what  he  observes,  far  from  indicat- 
ing a  scientific  law,  may  be  an  exception  to  the  rule.  The  fact 
is  that  a  few  observations  may  be  very  misleading;  many  de- 
tailed observations  alone  give  safety  to  conclusions  and  then 
they  should  be  verified  by  the  observations  of  other  students. 

Reasoning  by  analogy.  As  misleading,  and  probably  as 
common,  as  any  method  of  reasoning,  is  analogy,  reasoning  by 


WAYS    OF    THINKING  81 

similarities  or  by  resemblances.  We  reason  that  the  school 
system  of  Gary  is  very  good  and  that  since  it  is  so  good  for 
Gar\'  it  wouhl  be  good  for  our  city.  The  likelihood  is  that  it 
would  not  be  good  for  any  other  city  than  Gary,  although  some 
features  might  and  probably  could  be  very  well  adapted  to 
other  cities.  The  classical  example  of  analogy  which  is  best 
known  is  that  of  Newton  reasoning  from  the  fall  of  the  apple 
to  the  theory  of  gravitation  which  he  afterwards  verified  by 
other  methods.  But  it  should  be  remembered  that  he  did  veri- 
fy by  other  methods.  And  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  for 
one  analogy  that  has  led  scientists  to  the  truth,  there  have  been 
many  that  have  led  them  astray. 

The  first  thing  to  realize  is  that  analogy  never  proves  any- 
thing; at  best  it  can  only  suggest  possible  truths,  and  reason- 
ing of  some  other  kind  is  necessary  to  bring  the  proof.  Only 
on  the  degree  of  similarity  and  the  importance  of  the  similari- 
ties found  can  truths  be  even  indicated.  Vague  resemblances 
and  fancied  similarities  are  forever  leading  the  reasoner 
astray  and  proving  nothing. 

The  economist  reasons  that  since  government  ownership 
has  proved  good  for  some  other  country  it  would  in  like  man- 
ner be  good  for  us.  But  what  is  good  for  one  people  would 
not  necessarily  do  for  another  people.  Farmers  have  reason- 
ed that  if  fertilizer  is  good  for  one  crop  it  is  good  for  another. 
But  the  fertilizer  that  is  good  for  corn  is  not  in  like  manner 
good  for  oats.  I  have  an  acquaintance  who  reasoned  that 
since  the  daily  cold  plunge  was  excellent  for  her  husband  it 
would  also  be  good  for  her.  The  result  of  her  first  plunge 
was  a  severe  illness  from  which  she  did  not  recover  for  two 
weeks.  A  good  many  people  who  see  life  in  terms  of  efficien- 
cy,— there  are  many  students  among  the  number, — are  reason- 
ing that  they  can  work  the  long  hours  and  sleep  the  few  that 
some  great  people  are  said  to  have  worked  and  slept.  Some 
discover  the  danger;  others  go  on  to  the  breakdown. 

Reasoning  from  what  'ought  to  he*  to  supposed  facts.  Reas- 
oning from  the  idea  that  a  thing  ought  to  be  thus  and  so,  is  a 
dangerous  kind  of  procedure.  The  fact  is  that  we  frequently 
do  not  find  what  we  think  ought  to  be.  The  law  on  this  sub- 
ject ought  to  be  so  and  so,  but  very  likely  it  is  not.  Or  perhaps 
we  find  the  statement  of  the  law  and  decide  that  the  interpre- 
tation ought  to  be  thus  and  so,  and  to  our  dismay  find  out  later 
that  it  is  very  different.  Perhaps  a  thing  should  be  a  certain 
way,  but  that  does  not  alter  the  facts  of  the  case.     The  oft  re- 


82  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

peated  remark  of  one  of  my  old  teachers  of  mathematics  is 
not  without  its  significance:  we  should  "ascertain  by  finding 
out." 

The  conversion  of  arguments.  A  less  common  tendency  is 
that  of  converting  arguments.  Students  learn  in  psychology 
that  for  every  psychical  process  there  is  a  corresponding  pro- 
cess in  the  nervous  system.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  them  to 
erroneously  conclude  that  for  every  process  in  the  nervous 
system  there  is  a  corresponding  psychical  process.  This  is  not 
true.  The  error  of  conversion  of  arguments  is  obvious,  if  from 
the  statement,  all  college  professors  are  adults,  we  concede 
that  all  adults  are  college  professors.  In  physics  we  learn 
that  equal  volumes  of  gases  having  the  same  temperature  and 
pressure  have  the  same  number  of  molecules;  but  to  convert 
this  and  say  that  volumes  having  the  same  number  of  mole- 
cules have  the  same  temperature  and  pressure,  is  wrong. 

Originality  without  preparation.  There  is  also  a  tendency 
to  attempt  to  be  original  on  the  basis  of  too  few  ideas,  of  too 
little  knowledge  in  the  field  where  the  originality  is  attempted. 
To  be  original  is  one  thing;  to  produce  something  that  is  both 
original  and  valuable  is  another.  For  the  latter,  one  needs 
first  to  know  all  one  can  in  the  field  of  his  efforts;  to  have 
many  memories  of  the  best  in  this  field;  to  have  some  critical 
judgment  in  these  matters.  Then  he  may  reasonably  hope  to 
be  original  in  a  valuable  sort  of  way. 

Affirming  of  the  whole  what  is  true  of  a  part.  Like  the 
blind  men  who  told  about  the  elephant  after  each  of  them  had 
felt  of  a  part  of  the  animal,  we  are  continually  reasoning  from 
a  part  of  the  whole.  One  man  said  that  the  elephant  was  like 
his  trunk;  another  said  he  was  like  his  tail;  another  who  had 
felt  of  a  leg  said  he  was  like  a  tree.  We  reason  that  an  organi- 
zation is  like  some  of  the  members  we  know.  Commonly 
enough  people  denounce  a  club,  or  a  church,  or  all  churches, 
on  account  of  the  few  rascals,  or  hypocrites  that  they  know  to 
be  members.  Many  people  evidently  judge  a  college  commu- 
nity by  the  noisy,  loafing  few  who  are  generally  conspicuous. 

Affirming  of  a  part  what  is  true  of  the  whole.  Commonly 
also  we  reason  from  a  whole  to  the  part.  An  organization  is 
taken  as  sufficient  to  vouch  for  its  members.  If  a  man  belongs 
to  that  organization,  we  say,  he  must  be  all  right.  Most  people 
are  on  their  guard  against  this  particular  mistake.  But  most 
people  do  exactly  the  same  kind  of  thing  when  they  accept 
every  statement  of  a  man  or  a  book  because  of  the  establish- 


WAYS     OF    THINKING  83 

ished  reputation  of  the  individual  or  of  the  book  as  a  whole. 
This  is  indeed  an  error  against  which  the  student  must  con- 
stantly guard.  A  text  book  may  be  the  best  that  can  be  had 
but  the  excellence  of  the  book  cannot  be  so  great  that  every 
statement  is  to  be  accepted. 

Reasoning  from  incorrect  premises.  .Juch  of  the  trickery 
used  by  those  who  would  mislead  the  unwary  consists  in  try- 
ing to  get  the  victim  to  accept  something  incorrect  at  the  out- 
set, in  the  first  statement,  before  he  realizes  that  it  is  time  to  be 
on  his  guard.  A  small  error  at  the  begining  of  an  argument 
is  sufllcient  to  lead  to  the  wildest  conclusions.  A  good  illus- 
tration of  this  is  the  course  of  reasoning,  familiar  to  many  of 
us,  by  means  of  which  we  prove  by  faultless  logic,  that  an  ob- 
tuse angle  is  equal  to  a  right  angle.  All  that  is  needed  for  this 
is  the  incorrect  start.  And  the  error  is,  by  the  way,  not  very 
easy  to  detect. 

Proving  one  thing  and  assuming  proof  of  another.  If  a  be- 
lief is  very  dear  to  us  it  is  not  at  all  uncommon  to  reason  to 
the  possibility  of  the  belief  and  then  to  assume  the  probability. 
However,  a  thing  may  be  possible  but  far  from  probable.  It  is 
possible  that  the  world  will  come  to  an  end  in  a  few  years  but 
it  is  not  probable.  The  student  may  prove  that  government 
ownership  is  good  for  one  country  and  assume  that  he  has 
proved  it  for  his  own  country.  One  may  prove  objections 
against  a  movement  and  assume  that  the  movement  itself  has 
been  proved  undesirable.  But  there  may  be  more  or  better 
arguments  in  favor  of  it. 

Appeal  to  the  feelings  instead  of  to  the  intellect.  Everyone 
is  well  acquainted  with  this  form  of  influencing  people.  In 
the  court  room,  pictures  of  the  sorrowing,  needy  wife  at  home, 
of  the  children  who  need  the  protection  and  care  of  the  father, 
or  the  presentation  of  a  child  to  the  jury,  are  used  to  work 
upon  the  feelings.  The  clever  writer  may  be  able  to  make  you 
feel  that  a  thing  is  so;  but  to  feel  may  lead  you  from  the  correct 
thinking.  The  slogan  appeals  largely  to  our  feelings  and  car- 
ries conviction,  especially  with  the  crowd.  When  facts  give 
out,  when  the  lawyer  can  not  prove  his  case  against  his  oppon- 
ent, the  appeal  mav  be  to  the  feelinas  by  way  of  slander. 

Rejecting  a  conclusion  because  of  some  had  arguments.  It 
seems  to  be  a  common  tendency  to  throw  things  overboard  in 
a  wholesale  fashion  when  one  begins,  instead  of  selecting  the 
good  and  retaining  it  and  rejecting  the  rest.  "Nothing,"  wrote 
Paulsen,  "is  more  dangerous  to  a  good  cause  than  false  argu- 


84  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

mcnts."  I  know,  as  most  of  us  do  if  we  look  around  a  little,  a 
number  of  people,  who  have  lost  their  faith  because  their  be- 
liefs were  dependent  upon  bad  arguments.  When  the  argu- 
ments went,  the  beliefs  went  with  them.  Paulsen  gives  the 
case  of  Darwin  who  lost  his  belief  in  Christianity  because  the 
poor  arguments  which  had  been  taught  him  in  early  life  had 
to  go  by  the  board.  The  thing  that  the  student  should  learn, 
of  course,  is  that  arguments  may  be  bad  and  have  to  go,  but 
that  the  belief,  or  cause,  or  what  not,  may  be  good,  and  that 
there  may  be  good  arguments  if  they  can  only  be  found. 

Language  difficulties.  One  of  the  great  difficulties  in  educa- 
tion is  in  the  use  of  words.  Words  are  easily  used  not  to  ex- 
press ideas  but  in  place  of  ideas.  One  child  returned  home 
from  school  and  told  her  mother  that  she  had  learned  a  new 
word.  What  was  it?  "Gozinta."  What  did  it  mean?  That 
she  did  not  know,  but  the  teacher  had  said :  "Two  gozinta 
eight  four  times."  This  indefiniteness  of  ideas  in  connection 
with  language  is  the  cause  of  most  of  the  differences  between 
disputants  in  ordinary  arguments;  the  definition  of  terms  and 
a  few  distinctions  may  show  them  that  they  have  no  real  dif- 
ference of  opinion. 

Words  are  used  in  more  than  one  sense,  and  ambiguity 
arises;  words  are  employed  as  slogans  and  election  cries  to 
arouse  the  feelings  and  at  the  same  time  to  hoodwink  the  in- 
tellect. Our  natural  psychological  tendencies,  if  we  are  not 
alert  and  discriminating,  put  us  at  the  mercy  of  these  things, 
not  only  when  used  by  others  but  also  when  used  by  ourselves. 
A  good  piece  of  advice  from  which  every  student  might  profit, 
is:  "Avoid  being  at  the  mercy  of  your  words."  Students  are 
often  unable  to  answer  a  question  unless  it  is  stated  in  the  ex- 
act words  of  the  book.     They  are  at  the  mercy  of  words. 

The  great  achievement  for  the  student.  The  great  achieve- 
ment for  the  student  is  to.be  clear  and  accurate  and  to  under- 
stand. To  be  lost  in  logical  quibbles  is  small,  and  to  put  un- 
due emphasis  on  technicalities  hardly  gives  evidence  of  sin- 
cerity and  desire  for  the  exact  truth.  To  think  accurately 
and  to  get  into  the  habit  of  thinking  accurately  is  far  difTerent 
from  the  mere  getting  of  conclusions  or  answers.  In  order  to 
think  clearly  and  accurately,  the  student  must  learn  how  to 
think  and  how  to  avoid  errors  in  thinking.  He  must  realize 
the  natural  tendencies  and  know  when  they  are  leading  him 
aright  and  when  they  are  misleading  him.  He  must  put  him- 
self resolutely  to  the  effort  of  doing  the  hard  work   of  real 


WAYS     OF    THINKING  85 

thinking.  And  it  is  well  and  comforting  for  him  to  remember 
that  there  are  few  things  in  which  keener  or  more  lasting 
pleasure  can  be  found  than  that  which  is  to  be  found  in  good 
intellectual  work. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  Distinguish  between  psychological  tendencies  of  thought 
and  logical  errors  that  may  result  from  them. 

2.  What  errors  may  occur  from  too  much  haste? 

3.  What  would  you  consider  as  the  most  common  logical 
pitfalls  for  the  student? 

4.  How  may  predisposition  or  prejudice  affect  reasoning 
and  even  perception? 

5.  Pick  out  as  many  mistakes  as  you  can  that  you  think 
you  have  been  making  in  your  studying. 

6.  What  are  some  of  the  advantages  of  learning  by,  A)  the 
trial  and  error  method,  B)  by  imitation?  Name  some  disad- 
vantages for  each  method. 

7.  Are  there  times  or  studies  that  make  the  attempt  to  get 
general  impressions  more  valuable  than  learning  so  many  de- 
tailed facts?    When  or  for  what  studies  is  this  true? 

8.  Recall  instances  in  which  pupils  have  answered  in  terms 
of  words  instead  of  ideas.  What  can  you  do  to  help  students 
to  get  back  of  words  to  the  ideas?  What  does  it  mean  to  be  at 
the  mercy  of  words? 

REFERENCES. 

Creighton,  J.  E.  An  Introdiictorq  Logic.  The  Macmillan  Co.,  1910. 
Espec.  Chs.  12,  13,  18,  20,  22  and  25. 

SiDGwiCK,  A.  Fallacies.  Int.  Scien.  Series.  D.  Appleton  and  Co., 
1895. 


Chapter  7. 
PROGRESS  AND  IMPROVABILITY. 

The  universality  of  improvement.  With  the  exception  of 
a  very  few  cases,  it  can  safely  be  said  that  there  is  no  intellec- 
tual or  motor  activity  w^hich  does  not  improve  with  practice. 
Where  small  improvement  is  noted  it  is  likely  either  that  the 
requirements  of  life  have  already  brought  about  a  large  share 
of  the  possible  improvement  in  the  given  case,  or,  that  the  con- 
ditions for  improvement  are  in  some  way  lacking.  Normally 
one  can  rightly  expect,  if  he  take  advantage  of  the  conditions 
of  improvement,  and,  of  course,  if  he  have  the  capacity  to 
start  with,  that  very  great  improvement  can  be  made  in  any- 
thing which  he  is  willing  to  practice  regularly  and  persistent- 
ly. The  fact  stands  out  from  experiments  and  the  experiences 
of  experts  that  the  improvement  can  be  much  greater  than 
most  people  ever  attain. 

How  easy  to  go  a  little  way  while  the  novelty  continues  and 
the  difficulties  are  comparatively  few  and  quickly  overcome. 
How  sure,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  expertness,  the  proficiency, 
even  the  mastery  of  practically  anything,  if  one  has  the  stuff 
within  him  and  is  aroused  to  make  continuous  application  to 
the  chosen  work.  To  do  and  to  do  again,  to  fail  if  necessary 
and  to  come  back  with  the  resilience  of  a  Damascus  blade,  to 
keep  everlastingly  at  it,  is  the  first  and  most  fundamental  con- 
dition of  improvement. 

Habit  and  the  law  of  *  short-circuiting.*  In  the  process  of 
learning  the  new  activity  which  is  to  be  learned  requires  the 
activity  of  the  higher  centers  of  the  nervous  system.  The 
learner  must  be  attentive.  There  is  necessary  a  relatively 
high  degree  of  attention  to  each  action.  Immediately,  how- 
ever, the  law  of  *short-circuiting'  is  found  to  be  working,  and 
that  which  is,  at  first,  highly  conscious,  begins  to  be  carried  on 
by  the  lower  centers.  That  is,  the  activity  which  necessitated 
the  use  of  the  cerebrum  to  a  very  high  degree  in  the  learning, 
comes  to  require  a  relatively  small  activity  of  the  cerebrum 
and  the  function  is  carried  on  more  and  more  by  the  'auto- 
matic' action  of  the  lower  centers  of  the  nervous  system.  In 
other  words,  when  we  improve  in  a  function,  the  lower  cen- 

86 


PROGRESS    AND    IMPROVABILITY  87 

ters  increasingly  assume  the  direction  of  the  activities  in- 
volved and  leave  the  higher  centers  relatively  free  for  the  next 
new  learning.  The  cerebrum  also  comes  to  act  habitually 
and  to  do  with  ease  and  promptness  that  which  was  at  first 
slow  and  difficult.  Efficiency,  mastery,  progress  in  any  line 
of  endeavor  involves  the  development  of  many  well  formed 
habits  so  that  these  activities,  so  to  speak,  *go  off'  of  them- 
selves when  the  right  situation  presents  itself.  All  acquisi- 
tions, remember,  become  habits,  and  these  habits  are  the  bases 
for  all  further  acquisitions. 

Progress  lies  then  fundamentally  in  the  development  of  de- 
sirable habits,  and  goes  on  according  to  certain  laws,  many  of 
which  we  can  at  the  present  time  state  with  a  good  deal  of 
definiteness.  What  are  the  conditions  of  improvement  in 
learning? 

Regularity  and  persistence.  It  has  been  said  twenty  min- 
utes a  day  for  a  year  would  give  an  average  individual  the 
fundamentals  of  practically  any  science  which  he  would  study 
with  this  regularity.  Remember  James'  statement  in  his  chap- 
ter on  habit,  the  most  frequently  read  and  quoted  chapter  of 
psychology  ever  written.  "Let  no  youth  have  any  anxiety 
about  the  upshot  of  his  education,  whatever  the  line  of  it  may 
be.  If  he  keeps  faithfully  busy  each  hour  of  the  working  day, 
he  may  safely  leave  the  final  result  to  itself.  He  can  with  per- 
fect certainty  count  on  waking  up  some  fine  morning,  to  find 
himself  one  of  the  competent  ones  of  his  generation,  in  what- 
ever pursuit  he  may  have  singled  out.  Silently,  between  all 
the  details  of  his  business,  the  power  of  judging  in  all  that 
class  of  matter  will  have  built  itself  up  within  him  as  a  posses- 
sion that  will  never  pass  away." 

This  persistence  is  not  easy.  Man  is  inherently  lazy.  He 
needs  the  conditions,  the  suggestions,  motives,  incentives,  those 
things  which  bring  about  the  sustained  attention  and  the  per- 
manent interests.  Teachers  note  that  pupils  do  about  as  well 
as  theyare  obliged  to  do.  We  often  see  authors  settling  down 
comfortably  after  they  have  produced  books  which  bring  them 
satisfactorv  incomes.  And  the  fact  is  that  we  know  very  little 
about  the  hiahest  degrees  of  improvement  because  it  is  so  dif- 
ficult to  get  people  to  practise  sufficiently  long. 

Drill.  The  value  of  drill  is  clearly  shown  by  Dallenbach. 
(20).  In  his  experiment,  twenty-nine  2nd  grade  public  school 
pupils,  of  both  sexes,  were  given  daily  for  17  weeks  a  ten  min- 
ute exercise  in  rapid  observation  and  reproduction  of  various 


88 


PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 


visual  materials,  letters,  digits,  words,  geometrical  figures,  etc. 
The  results  of  the  experiment  show  that  the  effect  of  drill 
was  clearly  persistent  even  after  41  weeks  of  no  practice. 
Further,  a  special  test  by  means  of  Binet's  card  of  objects, 
showed  that  the  practiced  children  were  superior  to  their  un- 
practiced  schoolmates  when  tested  in  recall  and  description 
some  50  weeks  later.     (See  figure  2.) 


z    7   ^r 


S8 


/I 


BCD 


Figure  2, 


Fig.  2.     Effect  of  practice  on  visual  apprehensions   (Dallenbach), 


Phillips  (79)  reports  that  a  drill  group  in  arithmetic  made  a 
much  better  gain  than  the  non-drill  group,  being  12  per  cent, 
better  in  fundamentals,  50  per  cent,  better  in  reasoning  tests, 
and  31  per  cent,  better  in  the  combined  tests. 

Brown  (12)  summarizes  results  of  some  of  his  experiments 
as  follows:  "Five  minute  drill  periods  upon  the  fundamental 
number  facts,  preceding  the  daily  lesson  in  arithmetic,  were 
found  to  be  beneficial  in  the  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth  grades. 


Jpfi.r  sec 


o 

Sec 


U2.  SGC 


Figure  3 


Fig.  3.  Reduction  in  time  in  adding  17  to  50  2-place  numbers  as  affected  by 
practice.  Average  results  of  one  group  during  17  trials  after  having  had  35 
preliminary  trials.     (Hollingsworth,  31a). 


PROGRESS    AND    IMPROV  ABILITY 


/CO 
cfo 


7M  accuracy, 
hf^o  6pecd. 


Figure  4. 


Fig.  4.  Median  reduction  in  time  made  by  practice  of  19  university  students, 
who  daily  added  for  a  week  48  columns  of  ten  numbers.  Total  time  of  practice 
for  each  individual  about  one  hour.  (Thorndike,  112a). 


Benefit  was  not  limited  to  improved  mastery  of  the  number 
habits,  but  included  increased  efficiency  in  arithmetical  reas- 
oning." 

Results  of  practice  in  addition  are  shown  also  in  the  accom- 
panying figures.     (Figs.  3  and  4). 

Use  versus  drill  in  memorizing.  Kirkpatrick  has  given  the 
results  of  a  study  in  which  he  dealt  with  three  methods  and 
their  value  for  the  acquisition  of  arithmetic  combinations  in 
the  multiplication  of  numbers.  The  problem  was  to  learn  the 
products  of  7  multiplied  by  the  prime  numbers  from  17  to  53. 
Various  groups  of  students,  including  both  children  and  adults 
were  studied,  three  methods  being  used.  The  methods  were, 
(1)  to  memorize  and  then  use  the  knowledge,  (2),  to  practise 
with  the  help  of  a  key,  and  (3)  to  compute  the  products  from 
former  knowledge.  He  reports  the  value  of  the  methods  as 
follows:  "It  seems  that  memorizing  apart  from  use  is  the  poor- 
est method  of  all,  drill  in  using  somewhat  better,  (if  there  is 
not  so  much  effort  to  attain  speed  that  there  is  little  incidental 
learning),  while  the  method  of  using  previous  knowledge  as  a 
guide  in  practice  is  the  best  of  the  three The  results  indi- 
cate that  in  many  lines  of  teaching  there  has  been  a  tremen- 
dous waste  of  time,  energy  and  interest  in  first  memorizing, 
then  later  practising,  the  use  of  what  has  been  learned."  (53). 

It  is  likely  that  these  results  found  in  arithmetic  would  be 
largely  the  same  in  other  fields,  although  we  must  always  be 
very  careful  about  generalizing  from  one  field  to  another.  We 
may  probably  say  that  working  things  out  for  one's  self  is  su- 


9Q  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

perior  to  memorizing  or  learning  by  use  of  a  key  or  set  of 
rules.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  following  methods 
from  1  to  4  indicate  increasingly  better  ways  of  learning. 

1.  Memorizing  and  then  using.     Poorest. 

2.  Learning  by  use  of  a  key  or  set  of  rules.  Better,  but  not 
most  economical. 

3.  Learning  by  using  former  knowledge  to  work  out  re- 
sults.    Better  than  methods  1  or  2. 

4.  Learning  by  using  former  knowledge  to  work  out  re- 
sults plus  the  intention  or  purpose  of  memorizing.  Probably 
the  best  of  all.  The  value  of  intention  to  learn  has  been  shown 
in  another  place. 

Definiteness  of  practice.  The  greatest  improvement  ap- 
pears to  come  from  the  most  definite  practice.  This  means 
that  improvement  is  best  and  fastest  when  one  practises  di- 
rectly the  thing  to  be  done  and  not  something  else,  not  some- 
thing very  like  it,  not  a  combination  of  things,  but  definitely 
and  specifically  the  thing  to  be  improved.  In  other  words,  if 
one  desires  to  improve  his  ability  to  remember  prose,  he 
should  practise  memorizing  prose;  if  one  desires  to  improve 
in  remembering  poetry  he  should  practise  memorizing  poetry; 
if  it  be  in  anatomy,  study  anatomy;  if  it  be  reasoning  in  phil- 
osophy and  logic,  study  philosophy  and  logic;  if  it  be  reason- 
ing in  law,  study  law;  if  it  is  stenography,  study  stenography, 
and  further,  if  it  is  to  write  business  letters,  study  and  prac- 
tise writing  business  letters;  if  it  is  writing  scientific  matter, 
practise  that;  one  does  not  practise  in  a  canoe  if  he  is  in  train- 
ing to  win  a  boat  race,  nor  does  he  practise  swimming  to  gain 
improvement  in  the  high  jump. 

The  whole  point  is  that  the  mind  works  much  more  specific- 
ally than  most  people  imagine;  and  one  cannot  train  in  one 
thing  and  have  equal  improvement  in  another;  the  fact  is  that 
he  may  have  no  improvement  in  the  other  activity,  or  further 
that  there  may  be  actual  interference.  (See  chapter  on  Trans- 
fer of  Acquisitions).  The  injunction,  practise  the  thing  you 
would  improve  in,  does  not  mean,  however,  to  attempt  the 
higher  habits  before  the  lower  habits  are  formed;  that  is,  one 
does  not  attempt  to  play  the  pipe  organ,  nor  to  sing  in  opera 
at  the  outset;  the  principle  indicated  is  that  one  should  go  as 
directlv  as  possible  to  definite  specific  training  in  the  habits 
desired.  On  the  negative  side  one  should  avoid  forming  irre- 
levant habits;  habits  which  have  to  be  modified  later  or  per- 
haps unlearned,  so  far  as  they  can  be  unlearned. 


PROGRESS    AND    IMPROVABILITY  91 

Lower  and  higher  order  habits  develop  together.  Experi- 
ments have  shown  that  lower  and  higher  order  habits  develop 
together.  For  example,  in  learning  a  language  the  grasp  of 
larger  units  comes  along  with  the  attempt  to  grasp  smaller 
units.  The  telegrapher  finds  words  coming  along  with  letters, 
and,  later,  sentences  coming  with  words.  The  context  helps 
in  learning  to  deal  with  parts.  This  fact  indicates  a  psychol- 
ogical basis  for  beginning  a  foreign  language  with  sentences 
instead  of  with  words,  or  letters.  It  is  perhaps  too  early  to 
generalize  fully,  but  it  may  be  said  that  the  direct  method, 
which  follows  this  procedure,  is  proving  to  be  very  economr 
ical  of  time  and  effort,  and  it  may  prove  to  be  the  most  econ- 
omical method  with  pupils  of  some  if  not  of  all  ages.  The 
great  difficulty  at  present  is  to  get  teachers  who  can  teach  by 
this  method. 

The  order  of  learning.  The  suggestion  has  been  made  that 
tlie  order  of  learning  is  important.  Work  done  on  text  books 
during  the  last  twenty-five  or  more  years,  gives  evidence  of  the 
value  of  learning  in  at  least  a  good  order.  It  is  a  question  as 
lo  whether  there  is  a  best  order  for  any  material;  there  is  no 
question  among  teachers  that  a  good  order  of  presenting 
topics  of  or  requiring  habits  to  be  formed  is  exceedingly  val- 
uable. The  best  direction  of  action  and  the  best  order  of 
things  depend  generally  on  the  text  or  the  teacher;  these  re- 
quirements for  the  best  progress,  even  if  there  were  no  others, 
are  sufficient  to  make  it  fully  worth  while  to  have  the  best 
teacher  and  the  best  text.  Especially  should  the  best  teacher 
be  had  at  the  beginning  so  that  the  best  foundation  be  laid;  a 
poor  teacher  cannot  do  so  much  damage  later;  it  is  obvious 
also  that  a  good  teacher  can  carry  one  to  a  higher  stage  of 
mnster\'  than  a  poorer  teacher;  so  one  should  have  the  best 
teacher  again  for  the  most  advanced  work. 

Correct  practice.  One  very  fundamental  and  essential  con- 
dition for  economical  progress,  or  perhaps,  for  any  progress  at 
all,  is  correct  practice.  Skilled  players  who  are  going  into  a 
tournament,  tell  us  that  it  is  better  not  to  practise  at  all  just 
before  the  game  than  to  practice  carelessly.  Whatever  one 
practises,  one  tends  to  do  a^ain  in  the  same  way.  The  old 
maxim,  iearn  to  do  by  doing,'  must  change  to  the  maxim 
which  is  true  to  the  laws  of  habit  and  which  does  not  overlook 
those  laws,  namely  *learn  to  do  by  doing  correctly.' 

The  critical  attitude.  In  experiments  where  the  subjects 
know  their  scores,  their  successes  and  failures,  thev  make  tlie 


92  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

best  progress.  The  eliminalion  of  much  waste  lies  in  the  pick- 
ing out  of  the  correct  responses  and  repeating  them,  and  the 
picking  out  of  incorrect  responses  and  eliminating  them. 
Without  this  the  student  fails  to  make  the  improvement  he 
should.  Nor  could  he  expect  to  make  very  much  improve- 
ment unless  he  can  make  the  necessary  distinctions  between 
what  should  be  continued  and  what  discontinued.  Here  again 
appears  the  value  of  the  teacher  and  of  the  best  possible  teach- 
er, the  teacher  who  permits  only  the  correct  actions  and  eli- 
minates the  incorrect  responses.  This  does  not  mean  that  the 
student  should  not  try  for  himself  and  make  no  mistakes.  It 
does  mean  that  after  the  student  has  made  mistakes,  they 
should  be  corrected  and  only  the  correct  tendencies  be  allow- 
ed to  develop  into  habits. 

When  Fritz  Kreisler  emphasized  the  value  of  thoughtful 
practice  he  struck  one  of  the  keynotes  of  improvement.  Not 
only  should  one  be  persistent  and  practice  correctly,  etc.,  but 
he  must  do  more  than  mere  mechanical  repitition.  The  latter 
drills  into  the  nervous  system,  it  makes  for  habit,  but  is  no- 
where so  valuable  as  careful,  thoughtful  efforts. 

Improvement  of  methods.  Professor  James  brought  to  our 
attention  the  fact  that  the  secret  of  a  good  deal  of  improve- 
ment in  memory  lay  in  the  improvement  of  methods.  He  re- 
fers to  the  experience  of  Mr.  Thurlow  Weed,  who  improved 
his  ability  to  recall  the  events  of  the  day  by  recounting  them 
to  his  wife  every  evening. 

On  this  matter  Professor  James  writes :  "I  do  not  doubt  that 
Mr.  Weed's  practical  command  of  his  past  experiences  was 
much  greater  after  fifty  years  of  this  heroic  drill  than  it  would 
have  been  without  it.  Expecting  to  give  his  account  in  the 
evening,  he  attended  better  to  each  incident  of  the  day,  named 
and  conceived  it  differently,  set  his  mind  upon  it,  and  in  the 
evening  went  over  it  again.  He  did  more  thinking,  about  it, 
and  it  stayed  with  him  in  consequence.  But  I  venture  to  af- 
firm pretty  confidently,  (although  I  know  how  foolish  it  often 
is  to  deny  a  fact  on  the  strength  of  a  theory),  that  the  same 
matter  casually  attended  to  and  not  thought  about,  would  have 
stuck  in  his  memory  no  better  at  the  end  than  at  the  beginning 
of  his  years  of  heroic  self-discipline.  He  had  acquired  a  bet- 
ter method  of  noting  and  recording  his  experiences,  but  his 
physiological  retentiveness  was  probably  not  a  bit  improved. 
All  improvement  of  memory  consists,  then,  in  the  improve- 
ment of  one's  habitual  methods  of  recording  facts."*     (39). 


PROGRESS    AND    I M  PROVABILITY  93 

Recent  experimentation  has  shown  the  truth  of  James  state- 
ment in  relation  to  improvement  of  method.  Nor  can  this  be 
too  much  emphasized.  A  fundamental  fact  in  the  problem 
of  improvement  is  that  if  one  wants  to  improve  in  anything, 
he  should  improve  his  methods.  There  is  no  question  as  to 
the  great  generality  of  this  principle.  The  only  question  is  as 
to  the  extent  of  its  applicability. 

The  following  study  very  well  illustrates  and  emphasizes 
the  importance  of  methods. 

Improvement  in  observational  learning.  The  careful  study 
of  Dr.  Foster  on  the  effect  of  practice  upon  visualizing  throws 
light  upon  the  ways  in  which  learning  of  this  kind  may  im- 
prove. During  10  weeks  three  adult  observers  practiced  on 
pictures,  nonsense  syllables,  drawings,  poetr}%  and  objects.  Dr. 
Foster  writes:  "Ability  to  reproduce  increased  with  practice, 
although  the  increase  was  rapid  at  first  and  slow  later.  The 
greatest  gain  of  final  over  initial  ability  was  44  per  cent.;  the 
least,  6  per  cent. 

The  chief  reasons  for  the  practice-improvements  were : 

1.  Confidence  and  'doing  one's  best'  replaced  discourage- 
ment and  'giving  up.' 

2.  Familiarity  with  material  lessened  the  difficulty. 

3.  The  observers  learned  where  and  how  to  distribute  at- 
tention effectively. 

4.  More  efficient  methods  of  work  were  adopted.  Tricks 
of  counting,  naming,  grouping,  etc.,  were  discovered  and  used. 

5.  Regular  and  definite  procedure  replaced  hap-hazard, 
unorganized  procedure. 

In  no  case  did  practice  increase  the  ability  or  even  the  ten- 
dency to  visualize.  The  best  reproducer  of  visual  impress- 
ions was  the  poorest  visualizer,  and  relied  almost  wholly  upon 
verbal  cues  for  recall. 

Our  results  show  that  the  ability  gained  is  very  specific." 
(28).     (See  also  17). 

The  feelings  of  satisfaction  and  of  dissatisfaction.  Let  one 
be  satisfied  with  one's  efforts  and  progress  is  likely  to  stop.  To 
be  dissatisfied  is  one  of  the  best  indicators  of  better  effort  for 
improvement.  Conscientious  effort  brings  in  better  results  in 
learning.  As  we  have  said  before  the  feeling  attitude,  the  re- 
alization of  need  for  accomplishment,  desire  for  the  best  re- 
sults, caring  enough,  etc.,  are  real  aids  to  progress.  Or  to  be 
more  accurate  they  are  the  psychical  aspects  of  the  disposi- 
tions which  result  in  better  work. 


94  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

Can  we  work  better  when  we  are  in  the  mood  for  it?  Shall 
we  wait  until  we  feel  like  work  in  order  to  get  the  best  results? 
We  ofterh  do  work  better  when  we  feel  like  it,  but  it  is  found 
that  scores  may  be  better  on  days  when  the  subjects  of  experi- 
ments do  not  feel  fit.  Or  a  subject  may  feel  very  fit  and  ac- 
tually do  poor  work.  There  are  many  who  say  that  they  can- 
not do  good  intellectual  work  unless  they  are  in  the  mood  for 
it.  We  all  know  that  valuable  thoughts  come  to  us  when  we 
are  thinking  of  something  else.  We  know  the  right  idea  may 
flash  across  our  minds  when  we  least  expect  it.  Experiments 
seem  to  show,  however,  that  in  the  long  run,  we  are  likely  to 
do  more  and  better  work  if  we  apply  ourselves  independently 
of  our  feelings.  It  certainly  appears  that  the  habit  of  depend- 
ing upon  moods  may  be  formed  and  much  valuable  time  may 
be  lost  by  giving  way  to  them. 

Physiological  conditions.  Good  physiological  conditions 
evidently  make  for  better  intellectual  work.  Some  discus- 
sions of  this  point  seem  to  err  by  making  the  judgment  of  in- 
dividuals as  to  whether  or  not  they  felt  fit  the  criterion  of  the 
physiological  conditions.  There  are  many  cases  where  known 
illness  correlated  with  poor  work.  School  children  have  been 
found  to  improve  after  the  removal  of  physical  defects.  Prop- 
er feeding  improves  study.  The  importance  of  the  subject 
makes  it  worthy  of  discussion  in  a  separate  chapter.  Here  it 
is  sufficient  to  emphasize  the  fact,  that  while  progress  may  not 
be  interfered  wdth  by  not  feeling  well,  it  is  interfered  with  con- 
siderably by  not  being  well. 

The  principle  of  completeness  of  response.  Professor  Pet- 
erson has  called  attention  to  a  very  important  point  which  is 
undoubtedly  too  much  overlooked  in  attempts  to  understand 
and  explain  improvement  in  learning.  "There  is  no  question 
that  many  of  our  attempted  neural  explanations  involving  one 
arc,  or  at  best  a  few  neural  arcs,  are  altogether  too  simple  ade- 
quately to  explain  in  such  physical  terms  as  we  desire  how  one 
act  can  survive  over  the  other  more  or  less  random  acts  be- 
cause of  its  greater  success  in  meeting  the  needs  of  the  organ- 
ism. ....  In  a  complex  condition  such  as  we  actually  find  in  the 
nervous  and  muscular  systems,  where  various  more  or  less  re- 
lated acts  are  involved  in  each  reaction,  some  of  these  acts 
may  be  of  an  inhibitory  nature  to  others  under  certain  cur- 
cumstances,  while  occasionally  under  other  conditions  all  may 
tend  rather  positively  to  aid  or  strengthen  one  another.  These 
mutually  inhibiting  or  reinforcing  eff*ects  would  be  determined 


PROGRESS  AND  I M  PROVABILITY  95 

not  only  by  the  nature  and  complexity  of  the  stimulus  but  also 
by  the  inherited  and  acquired  disposition — neural  connections, 
bodily  structure,  etc. — of  the  organism" 

"In  the  case  of  the  maze  problem  the  animal  on  entering  a 
cul  de  sac, — or  any  other  path,  in  fact — responds  more  or  less 
incompletely,  because  all  the  subordinate  activities  involved 
cannot  take  place  at  once.  If  the  animal's  progress  is  soon 
checked  in  a  blind  alley  the  animal  is  not  seriously  nonplus- 
ed. Certain  elements  of  the  general  response  are  tending  to 
drain  into  other  alleys  that  may  recently  have  been  passed, 
thus  partially  dividing  the  animal's  activity.  These  elements 
now  prevail  when  the  others  are  checked.  Let  us  suppose 
that  the  correct  path.  A,  has  just  been  passed  when  the  animal 
suddenly  comes  to  the  end  of  the  cul  de  sac,  B.  The  tenden- 
cies to  respond  to  A  are  still  surviving  and  now  direct  the  im- 
peded activity  into  this,  the  successful,  path.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  correct  path  had  been  chosen  the  first  time  the  dis- 
tracting impulses  toward  B  would  have  become  fainter  and 
fainter  as  the  animal  proceeded  into  A,  and  would  have  finally 
faded  away.  The  principle  is  not  different  when  the  complex- 
ity of  the  situation  is  increased.  When  the  food  is  finally 
reached  all  the  remaining  delayed  reactions,  the  tendencies, 
still  persisting,  to  go  into  other  alleys  recently  passed,  are  re- 
laxed— the  act  as  a  whole  is  complete."     (78). 

This  principle,  which  is  also  called  the  overlapping  of  re- 
sponses, is  worthy  of  the  emphasis  which  Professor  Peterson 
puts  upon  it.  We  are  undoubtedly  helped  to  a  large  extent 
by  artificial  simplifications  in  psychology;  we  are  brought  back 
to  the  real  situation  by  statements  like  the  above  which  em- 
phasize the  great  complexity  of  affairs. 

Improvement  in  subnormals.  A  study  by  Professor  Wood- 
row,  recently  published,  (121),  suggests  that  subnormals  can 
improve  as  rapidly  and  as  well  as  normals  in  activities  which 
are  not  beyond  the  mental  grasp  of  the  subnormals.  Both 
normal  and  subnormal  children,  all  about  nine  years  old  men- 
tally, were  trained  by  means  of  a  form  sorting  test.  In  his 
manuscript.  Professor  Woodrow  concludes  as  follows:  "To 
sum  up,  in  the  present  experiment,  feebleminded  children 
were  found  to  show  the  same  amount  of  improvement  and  to 
improve  in  accordance  with  essentially  the  same  practice 
curve  as  normal  children  of  the  same  mental  age  and  same  in- 
itial ability.  While  in  both  the  feebleminded  and  normal 
groups  there  existed  great  individual  variation,  it  was  impos- 


96  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING    AND    SrUDY 

sible  to  discover  any  eftects  of  practice  which  were  significant- 
ly different  for  the  two  groups."  Also,  'The  conclusion  is 
definitely  indicated,  that  feebleminded  children  improve  with 
practice  the  same  as  normal  children  of  like  mental  age."  As 
noted  by  the  writer  the  normal  children  might  have  been  ex- 
pected to  outstrip  the  subnormal  children  if  the  practice  had 
continued  for  a  very  long  period.  Subnormal  children  do  not 
change  mentally  as  do  the  normal  from  one  age  to  another. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  Pick  out  several  things  in  which  you  have  made  a  good 
deal  of  improvement.  For  each  of  these  what  percent  of  pos- 
sible improvement  do  you  think  you  have  made? 

2.  What  obstacles  have  laid  in  the  way  of  your  improve- 
ment in  things  that  you  have  attempted? 

3.  Compare  the  value  of  mechanical  drill  with  that  of 
thoughtful  practice. 

4.  What  is  the  value  of  improvement  of  methods  in  com- 
parison with  any  other  aids  to  progress  of  which  you  can 
think? 

5.  How  does  use  play  a  part  in  progress  in  learning?  Il- 
lustrate from  school  work  and  from  other  lines  of  activity. 

6.  How  much  should  one  permit  one's  self  to  be  affected  by 
moods? 

7.  How  much  difference  do  not  feeling  well  and  not  being 
well  make  in  progress?  Which  is  more  important,  to  be  well 
or  to  feel  well,  and  why? 

8.  Mention  some  other  factors  that  are  involved  in  im- 
provement. 

REFERENCES. 
E.  L.  Thorndike.     Educational  Psijchologij.     Vol.  2,  The  Psijcholoytf 
of  Learning.     1913.     Espec.  chs.  6  to  8  inclusive. 
Also  see  references  at  the  end  of  chapter  8. 


Chapter  8. 

ARRESTS  IN  LEARNING  AND  THE  LIMITS  OF 

IMPROVABILITY. 

Are  plateaus  necessary  in  human  learning?  It  is  maintain- 
ed on  good  authority  that  there  are  no  plateaus  in  animal 
learning.  It  is  also  believed  by  some  psychologists  that  pla- 
teaus are  not  necessary  in  human  learning.  But  other  psy- 
chologists believe  that  they  are  in  the  natural  order  of  events. 
Plateaus,  it  may  be  said,  are  arrests  in  learning;  one  learns 
but  comes  to  a  time  when  he  either  does  not,  or  apparently 
does  not,  make  any  progress.  It  may  be  that  he  takes  a 
*slump'  and  the  work  is  actually  poorer  than  previous  work. 
The  apparent  arrest,  may,  as  many  believe,  be  only  apparent; 
progress  may  actually  be  going  on  somewhere  among  the 
neurons. 

On  the  one  hand  we  have  the  fact  that  progress  after  a  pla- 
teau is  very  likely  to  be  rapid.  It  may  be  inferred  from  this 
that  there  was  no  actual  stop  in  progress  but  that  the  progress 
could  not  be  observed.  It  simply  did  not  appear  in  objective 
results. 

On  the  other  hand  nature  seems  to  advance  by  fits  and 
starts.  Plants  grow  more  at  one  time  of  the  year  than  at  an- 
other. In  the  growing  child  increase  of  weight  appears  more 
at  one  time  and  increase  in  height  more  at  another.  The  fact 
stands  that  in  most  learning,  whether  in  laboratory  experi- 
ments or  in  our  schools,  individuals  show  advance  at  times 
and  at  other  times  fail  to  show  advance.  The  practical  con- 
clusions for  us  at  present  is  that  plateaus  exist  and  that  we 
have  not  been  able  to  wholly  eliminate  them,  especially  under 
school  and  college  conditions.  We  have  therefore  the  prob- 
lem of  understanding  the  conditions  or  causes  of  plateaus  and 
the  methods  for  making  them  as  few  as  possible,  of  postpon- 
ing their  appearance,  and  of  overcoming  them  when  they  do 
apponr.     (54  and  109). 

The  curve  of  learning.  If  we  can  represent  in  a  kind  of 
ideal  way  the  progress  of  learning  of  different  kinds,  it  can  be 
done  only  by  dropping  out  all  the  variations  and  differences 

97 


PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 


that  appear  in  the  different  kinds  of  learning  and  giving  a 
sort  of  approximate  curve  such  as  the  one  shown  in  Fig.  5. 


Figure  5 


Fig.  5.     Approximate  curve  to  represent  a  general  average  of   facts  in   con- 
nection with  progress  of  learning.     (Thorndike,  109,  p.  255). 

The  actual  progress  in  learning,  showing  fluctuations,  can 
be  shown  by  curves  which  represent  the  progress  of  individ- 
uals in  learning  of  different  kinds.     The  presence  of  plateaus 


ftlto 

yu^y 

IfOo 

jj 

/fco 

AT^ 

ISoo 

/y/"^^^ 

/300 

yS^ 

/loo 

AJ 

feo 

I 

yea 

y 

Soo 

. 

30  0 

Figure  6. 

too 

ZO        4o         60         80         /oo       /zo 


Fig.  6.     Improvement  in  typewriting  by  the  touch  method.     Sul)jcct  Y.     ( l^)()k 
10,  p.  21).  , 


ARRESTS  IN  LEARNrNG 


99 


^        ^        ~^       /6      2o     Z4      za     Jz     J6- 
U/eekj    0/  pt-Acilcc        Figure    7. 


Fig.  7.     Improvement  in  telegraphy.  E.  L.  B.     (Bryan  and  Harter,  13a). 


y      ^      /^    /^     ii-o    Z4  it     3z    Jk   40 
COec^i  0/  prcciccc     Figure   8. 


Fig.  8.     Improvement  in  telegraphy.    W.  J.  R.  (Bryan  and  Harter,  13a). 


?5   >. 


J^O  4o  So  80  /ci 

Ameicytt  ofpractocc  en  mcrjiciea 


Fig.  0.     Average  curve  of  improvement  of  school  children  in  column  addi 
tion.     (Thorndike,  109,  p.  254). 


100  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

is  indicated  in  these  curves,  as  is  also  the  presence  of  slumps. 
See  Figs.  6,  7,  8  and  9. 

Progress  at  different  stages  of  learning.  It  appears  from  an 
examination  of  the  curves  shown  in  the  text  that  learning,  so 
far  as  these  curves  go,  is  fast  at  first  and  later  slows  down. 
This  is,  in  fact,  what  appears  from  most  of  the  studies  of  learn- 
ing. It  is  not  safe  to  generalize  from  one  kind  of  learning  to 
another  and  while  the  above  facts  may  be  true  for  most  learn- 
ing, still  we  do  not  yet  know  this  and  we  must  take  into  ac- 
count such  studies  as  those  of  Professor  Swift  in  which  learn- 
ing is  found  to  be  slow  at  first  and  then  faster. 

In  the  study  of  Tossing  and  Catching  Balls  and  in  one  On 
Learning  Short-hand,  Swift  finds  that  the  initial  progress  is 

slow   and   then   very  fast.     As   he   puts  it :  " the  learner 

seems  to  make  no  advance  for  a  time  and  then  springs  to  a 
higher  level,  perhaps  only  to  fall  back  a  little  but,  at  all  events, 
not  to  go  higher  until  he  has  strengthened  his  position  here." 

Also  he  writes:  "I  have  found  no  evidence  for  one  or  two 
special  periods  of  delay  in  progress  in  which  preparation  is 

made  for  a  higher  order  of  habits automitization  is  going 

on  throughout  the  process." 

In  discussing  the  rapid  rise  found  at  the  beginning  of  other 
studies  of  learning  than  his  own  he  writes :  "This  immediate 
rapid  rise  at  the  beginning  seems  to  be  true  only  of  these 
things  that  have  symbols  or  other  devices  for  handling  and 
presenting  ideas,  and  it  is  probable  that  after  this  first  spurt, 
the  length  of  which  would  vary  with  different  sorts  of  mater- 
ial, the  general  form  of  the  curve  for  learning  is  concave  until 
the  physiological  limit  is  approached.  Telegraphing  involves 
fewer  symbols,  and  the  distraction  of  deciding  on  sounds  and 
abbreviations,  that  mark  the  learning  of  the  Pernin  short- 
hand system,  would  not  so  greatly  disturb  the  beginner,  and 
so,  having  less  thinking  and  deciding  to  do  at  the  start,  the 
learner  in  telegraphy  would  probably  go  on  improving  with- 
out great  set  backs  longer  than  the  short-hand  writer."     (95) . 

The  effect  of  the  learner  becoming  able  to  get  the  context 
appeared  soon  after  the  reading  of  the  short-hand  notes  began. 
Occasional  spurts  occurred  as  a  result.  Later  many  spurts 
were  noted  and  attributed  to  this  cause.  Swift  thinks  that 
early  rapid  rise  in  the  learning  of  short-hand  does  not  occur 
because  of  the  lack  of  associations  also  and  after  many  asso- 
ciations have  had  time  to  form   they  bring  about  the  rapid 


ARRESTS  ilSf  ^LEAftNING  101 

progress.  Some  concave  curves  are  probably  due  to  a  faulty 
method  of  plotting. 

Progress  and  individual  differences.  Progress  of  individ- 
uals in  the  ordinary  classes  in  our  schools  is  made  more  diffi- 
cult because  of  the  individual  differences  of  the  different 
pupils.  A  very  few  of  the  pupils  are  able  to  go  very  rapidly. 
Most  of  the  pupils  can  go  only  at  a  medium  rate.  A  number 
will  be  found  who  can  keep  up  with  the  medium  rate  students 
only  with  great  difficulty,  and  with  special  attention,  or  who 
cannot  keep  up  at  all. 

The  best  rate  of  progress  for  one  pupil  is  not  the  best  rate 
for  another.  It  is  doubtless  true  that  for  any  given  student  it 
is  right  for  him  to  go  ahead  at  his  own  best  rate.  With  small 
classes  or  with  individuals  it  would  be  reasonably  possible  for 
the  teacher  to  see  that  this  was  accomplished.  If  for  no  other 
reason,  the  possibility  of  better  progress  for  all,  would  de- 
mand the  best  possible  classification  of  pupils  into  the  various 
classes. 

Sorting  of  pupils :  ^^Opportunity  classes.'*  In  many  schools 
there  are  slower  and  faster  classes  of  pupils  who  are  doing  the 
same  work.  This  is  often  convenient  and  helpful.  Where  a 
school  system  is  large  enough  it  is  advantageous  if  not  ethic- 
ally the  duty  of  the  school  authorities,  for  the  children  to  be 
classified  according  to  ability.  Two  percent,  of  a  school  pop- 
ulation can  be  picked  out  as  especially  bright  and  capable  of 
fast  progress.  A  larger  percent  are  unable  to  do  the  average 
work  of  the  average  student.  For  the  sake  of  the  teachers  and 
for  the  best  progress  of  the  individual  pupils  "fexperience  indi- 
cates that  there  should  be  special  classes.  There  are  many 
kinds  of  makeshifts  for  the  purpose  of  letting  the  brilliant 
student  get  along  faster  and  for  getting  the  poor  student  up  to 
grade  but  the  special  classes  are  the  real  solution. 

Such  classes  could  be  called  opportunity  classes.  The 
pupils  do  not  need  to  be  tagged  "supernormals"  or  "subnor- 
mals." In  fact  it  is  almost  necessary  that  they  do  not  be  call- 
ed such.  There  is  too  much  feeling  aroused  in  the  minds  of 
both  pupil  and  parent.  But  opportunity  classes  might  be 
formed  for  both  the  bright  and  dull  students.  The  bright 
students  could  go  faster  and  do  their  better  quality  and  quan- 
tity of  work.  For  the  less  bright  pupils  there  could  be  a  mod- 
ified curriculum.  They  could  be  called  upon  to  do  the  kind 
of  work  they  can  do  and  at  which  they  can  succeed  and  all  be 
greatly  benefitted. 


102  PRII^CIPLES    CfP  l^EARNmo   AND    STUDY 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  writer  to  discuss  at  length  the 
problem  of  special  classes.  But  it  is  a  matter  which  cannot  be 
overlooked  and  one  which  teachers  must  more  and  more 
come  to  consider,  where  ever  their  school  systems  are  large 
enough  to  permit  of  such  a  solution  of  individual  differences. 
Going  at  the  right  pace  for  the  great  majority  of  pupils  is  go- 
ing too  fast  for  the  dull  ones.  And  it  is  not  at  the  present  day 
sufficient  to  give  the  old  solution :  teach  the  dullest  in  the  class 
and  the  rest  will  get  the  lesson.  We  must  administer  our 
schools  so  that  all  students,  so  far  as  is  possible,  will  make  the 
best  progress  that  is  possible  for  them.  It  is  not,  by  the  way 
the  function  of  the  bright  pupil  to  stimulate  the  dull  pupil.  He 
is  there  to  learn  and  not  to  be  bored  to  his  educational  death 
by  the  pace  required  for  the  latter.  It  is  the  teacher's  place 
to  do  the  stimulating. 

Causes  of  plateaus.  Plateaus  are  variously  explained  by 
different  writers.  We  do  not  yet  fully  understand  plateaus 
and  their  causes.  It  is  possible  to  state  many  conditions 
which  are  directly  correlated  with  plateaus.  These  should 
give  us  a  fair  basis  for  dealing  with  the  problem  involved. 
Future  study  must  supply  information  as  to  what  conditions 
are  most  important  for  particular  subjects. 

The  nature  of  the  learner.  The  feeling  attitude  is  likely  to 
change  as  one  goes  on  in  a  subject;  the  novelty  wears  off,  and 
the  first  enthusiasm  dies  down;  interest  and  effort  are  all  too 
likely  to  wane.  Add  to  this  the  laziness  of  human  nature, 
faintheartedness,  distrust  of  one's  own  ability,  anxiety,  and 
the  feelings  of  fliscouragement  and  we  have  the  secrets  of  a 
good  many  of  the  failures  to  get  very  far  with  anything.  Dis- 
tractions at  such  a  time  can  easily  disturb  and  one  may  be 
wooed  to  a  pleasanter  task.  Something  else  novel  and  easy 
makes  the  stronger  appeal.  Strong  emotions,  especially  those 
that  last  for  a  long  time,  indicate  conditions  in  the  individual 
that  are  likely  to  interfere  with  progress.  Adolescent  changes 
are  examples  of  this.  As  already  indicated  physiological  con- 
ditions are  important  and  bad  bodily  conditions  interfere  with 
progress. 

Defective  training.  Poor  preparation  is  a  cause  of  plateaus. 
Things  are  not  sufficiently  well  learned;  habits  not  fully  form- 
ed interfere  with  the  advanced  work,  with  the  formation  of 
higher  habits.  Where  habits  are  not  fully  formed  and  one 
attempts  to  take  the  next  step  in  advance,  the  attention  is  con- 
stantly distracted  from  the  new  to  the  old  activities.     This  is 


ARRESTS    IN    LEARNING  103 

a  serious  cause  of  trouble  and  may  result  in  disturbing  both 
stages  of  the  activity,  the  one  which  is  not  fully  made  into 
habit,  the  other  which  should  have  undistracted  attention  so 
that  it  can  be  properly  learned  and  reduced  to  habit. 

Growing  complexity  and  critical  stages.  It  is  obvious  that 
work  gets  more  complex  and  diflicult  as  one  proceeds;  there 
are  fewer  improvements  to  make,  and  these  few  are  harder  to 
make;  the  advanced  work  requires  the  perfecting  of  habits 
which  takes  a  long  time.  We  are  fairly  well  acquainted  with 
the  critical  stages  that  appear  in  certain  kinds  of  learning, 
for  example,  in  typewriting,  and  in  telegraphing.  Two  such 
critical  stages  are  commonly  distinguished.  There  is  the 
plateau  which  separates  the  first  easy  learning  from  the  stage 
in  which  some  little  or  perhaps  fair  proficiency  is  gained;  the 
second  plateau  precedes  the  ascent  from  drudgery  to  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  proficiency.  Teachers  often  know  just 
about  the  place  in  the  student's  progress  in  which  to  look  for 
these  plateaus  and  may  give  valuable  aid  and  encouragement 
at  such  a  time.  The  fact  also  appears  that  most  people,  stud- 
ents and  teachers  alike,  have  altogether  too  little  experience 
with  higher  habits.  We  are  just  beginning  to  learn  about  the 
factors  entering  into  the  highest  degrees  of  skill. 

Improper  use  of  time  and  effort;  poor  methods.  Plateaus 
are  brought  on  by  the  improper  use  of  time  and  effort.  James 
long  ago  told  us  that  improvement  in  memorizing  lay  largely 
in  improvement  of  methods  used.  Several  of  our  recent  stud- 
ies show  that  much  of  the  lack  of  progress  is  due  to  poor  meth- 
ods. We  are  told  that  methods  should  never  be  left  to  chance, 
rhey  should  be  carefully  worked  out  and  then  improved  as 
progress  in  the  study  shows  that  it  is  possible  to  improve  them. 
Failure  to  make  use  of  a  proper  distribution  of  time,  so  that 
intervals,  and  Jost's  law,  can  help  the  learner,  mean  slower 
progress,  if  they  do  not  actually  bring  about  plateaus. 

The  illusion  of  progress.  In  intellectual  work  one  needs  to 
be  warned  against  the  illusion  of  great  progress  which  is  like- 
ly to  come  with  going  over  a  large  amount  of  material  in  a 
short  time:  the  result  in  the  long  run  is  very  often  little  actual 
gain  and,  especially,  a  relatively  small  degree  of  permanent 
retention.  It  was  not  vanity  or  conceit,  but  this  fact  which 
led  a  great  scholar  to  remark  that  if  he  read  as  much  as  most 
of  his  colleagues  did,  he  would  know  as  little  as  they. 

The  illusion  of  progress  in  a  young  child  may  occasionally 
be  helpful  in  getting  him  to  try  to  do  his  best.     Children  who 


104  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

have  been  given  praise  or  good  marks  that  they  had  not  really 
earned  have  been  known  to  live  up  to  the  praise,  or  the  marks 
immediately  afterwards.  This  suggests  one  of  the  factors  that 
make  for  economic  progress,  namely,  thoroughness  of  learn- 
ing. The  quotation  already  made  from  Porter  is  apt.  The 
phenomenal  success  of  the  lawyer  was  on  account  of  his  read- 
ing,  not  so  much  as  his  colleagues,  but  on  account  of  his  mak- 
ing it  thoroughly  his.  Thorough  learning,  completely  formed 
habits,  do  more  for  the  avoidance  of  plateaus  than  one  or- 
dinarily realizes. 

Observation  of  principles  .already  mentioned.  Many  prin- 
ciples have  already  been  mentioned  whose  observance  make 
for  avoidance  of  plateaus;  regularity  of  practice  and  adher- 
ence to  correct  practice;  definiteness  of  practice;  practice  of 
the  thing  to  be  learned  and  not  something  else;  the  avoidance 
of  irrelevant  habits;  the  right  use  of  time  and  effort;  the  best 
number  and  frequency  of  practice  periods  and  intervals,  and 
the  like.  Learning  in  a  good  order;  distinguishing  the  correct 
from  the  incorrect  responses  and  eliminating  the  latter;  satis- 
faction only  with  the  correct  actions  and  results.  Improve- 
ment  of  methods,  and  the  continual  use  of  the  best  methods, — 
methods  should  never  be  left  to  chance;  mastery  of  fundamen- 
tals before  going  to  something  dependent  upon  them.  The 
best  physical  conditions;  avoidance  of  getting  mentally  stale; 
independence  of  moods,  rest  and  recreation  when  needed; 
forcing  when  one  tries  to  get  on  the  highest  levels  of  perform- 
ance. 

Forcing  one's  self.  The  fact  appears  from  experiments  and 
from  the  experiences  of  those  who  have  attained  the  highest 
degrees  of  skill  that  the  only  way  in  which  to  get  to  these  very 
high  stages  is  to  force  one's  self.  Forcing  is  not  to  be  recom- 
mended if  one  is  ill,  or  too  nervous,  or  if  he  needs  quiet,  rest, 
and  recreation  to  get  him  out  of  a  rut  or  to  remedy  his  having 
become  stale.  But  granted  a  good  healthy  condition,  to  at- 
tain the  highest  stages  of  proficiency,  only  one  thing  will  serve, 
namely,  forcing.  The  learner  must  put  forth  his  very  best  ef- 
forts, without  forgetting,  however,  that  short  periods  of  this 
great  effort  are  undoubtedly  best,  and  that  the  best  methods 
must  be  used. 

Colvin,  in  The  Learning  Process,  very  well  summarizes  the 
facts  in  connection  with  this  matter  of  effort.  He  writes: 
"The  value  of  putting  forth  a  maximal  effort  to  gain  a  perma- 
nent improvement  has  been  emphasized,  particularly  by  Bry- 


ARRESTS   IN    LEARNING  105 

an  and  Harter,  who  say:  'One  conclusion  seems  to  stand  out 
from  all  these  facts  more  clearly  than  anything  else,  namely, 
that  in  learning  to  interpret  the  telegraphic  language,  it  is  the 
intense  effort  that  educates.'  Swift,  while  agreeing  with  this 
conclusion  in  general,  adds  the  caution  that  spurts  cannot  be 
relied  on  to  accomplish  this  result.  The  effort  must  be  sus- 
tained, not  sporadic  and  haphazard.  Book  emphasizes  the 
fact  that  a  balance  must  be  preserved  between  accuracy  and 
speed.  The  imperfectly  formed  habits  must  be  mastered  be- 
fore substantial  progress  can  be  made.  They  should  be  ac- 
quired as  rapidly  as  possible,  but  not  so  rapidly  that  speed 
shall  be  gained  at  the  expense  of  accuracy,  'The  desire  to  hurry 
on  must  be  nicely  balanced  with  due  caution.'"     (16). 

The  effort  to  get  to  the  highest  efficiency  may  need  to  con- 
tinue not  only  months  but  years.  In  the  higher  stages  of  ex- 
pertness  a  little  improvement  often  means  that  a  man  is  many 
times  more  valuable  in  his  line  of  work;  this  little  improve- 
ment in  the  advanced  stages  may  mean  that  a  man  is  worth 
several  thousand  dollars  more  than  formerly  in  his  business. 

The  limit  of  improvability.  There  is  a  point  above  which 
there  are  only  diminishing  returns  for  one  who  tries  to  reach 
a  higher  degree  of  expertness,  and  this  point  one  must  decide 
very  largely  for  himself;  some  can  go  farther  than  others  with 
profitable  returns  for  the  investment  of  time  and  energy; 
others  reach  their  limits  of  profitable  returns  earlier.  The  de- 
mands of  different  individuals  also  make  it  advisable  for  each 
to  determine  the  degree  of  expertness  in  any  particular  line 
he  needs  for  his  own  best  service.  Let  it  be  said  again,  how- 
ever, that  most  of  us  can  improve  far  beyond  our  expectation 
if  we  only  go  about  it  rightly  and  keep  persistently  at  it.  In 
the  problems  and  experiences  of  the  expert  one  finds  much 
that  is  closed  to  the  student  who  goes  only  the  little  way  that 
most  people  go;  on  the  highest  levels  of  endeavor  one  can  find 
the  keenest  intellectual  pleasure  and  the  best  and  most  lasting 
satisfaction. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  What  is  meant  by  plateaus  and  what  is  their  probable 
nature? 

2.  Can  you  mention  studies  in  which  you  have  noticed  the 
presence  of  plateaus?  in  which  learning  has  gone  without 
plateaus? 


106  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

3.  What  are  the  characteristics  of  the  curve  of  learning? 

4.  How  far  is  it  safe  to  generalize  from  one  kind  of  learn- 
ing to  another  kind? 

5.  In  what  kinds  of  learning  may  we  possibly  expect  no 
plateaus? 

6.  Indicate  several  cases  in  which  plateaus  should  be  treat- 
ed by  different  methods. 

7.  What  should  be  done  in  order  to  avoid  plateaus  so  far 
as  possible? 

8.  What  educational  benefits  within  the  individual  may 
come  to  one  who  makes  himself  a  master  of  something? 

REFERENCES. 

E.  J.  Swift.  Studies  in  The  Psychologij  and  Phusiologu  of  Learning. 
Am.  J.  Psychol.  14:  1903,  201  ff.  '  '  ' 

Thorndike,  E.  L.  Educational  Psychology,  Vol.  2,  Psychology 
of  Learning.  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  1913.  Chs.  0,  7, 
8  and  9.  Also  Educational  Psychology,  Briefer  Course,  1915,  Chs.  14, 
15,  16  and  17. 

Whipple,  G.  M.  Manual  of  Mental  and  Physical  Tests.  Warwick 
and  York,  2nd  Ed.,  1914,  Ft.  1  122  f.,  136,  143,  219  f.,  228,  234,  254  ff., 
273  f.,  286  ff.,  295,  304  f.,  315,  321  f.  Ft.  2  405,  431,  452,  470  f.,  482, 
491-494,  508-512,  550  ff.,  580,  596.  601,  659. 


Chapter  9 

THE  TRANSFER  OF  ACQUISITIONS:  GENERAL 

IMPROVEMENTS. 

Most  improvement  is  specific.  We  have  said  that  if  a 
student  wishes  to  improve  in  anything,  the  best  results  come 
by  practice  in  that  one  thing  and  not  in  something  else.  If  he 
wishes  to  improve  in  memory  for  prose  he  should  memorize 
prose;  if  in  anatomy  he  should  memorize  anatomy;  if  in 
reasoning  in  logic  and  philosophy  he  should  study  logic  and 
philosophy;  if  in  reasoning  in  practical  affairs  he  should  study 
practical  affairs.  One  can  state  the  same  thing  negatively  by 
saying  that  improvement  in  one  subject  does  not  give  equal 
improvement  in  other  subjects.  This  is  in  direct  contradic- 
tion to  the  old  view,  that  one  could  study  certain  disciplinary 
subjects  and  thus  train  the  mind  so  that  it  would  be  equally 
able  to  do  any  kind  of  mental  work.  This  is  the  doctrine  of 
formal  discipline,  as  it  was  called,  and  no  one  who  has  read 
the  results  of  experiments  on  the  matter  can  longer  maintain 
its  truth  in  this  extreme  form. 

Some  transfers  may  take  place.  Neither  can  one  who  knows 
the  facts  deny  that  there  may  be  some  improvement  in  activi- 
ties other  than  those  used;  some  general  improvement  so  to 
speak;  or,  as  it  is  generally  termed  nowadays,  transfers  of 
training  from  one  field  to  another.  Experiment  has  shown 
that  improvement  in  one  field  may  mean  improvement  to  some 
extent  in  other  fields.  And,  to  go  deeper  into  the  problem,  ex- 
periment has  shown  some  of  the  factors  which  when  learned 
transfer  to  another  subject  and  the  causes  of  these  transfers. 
There  may  be  transfer  to  help,  that  is,  to  cause  improvement 
in  another  subject,  or  to  hinder,  that  is  to  actually  interfere 
with  other  performances  in  other  subjects  or  lines  of  work. 
In  brief,  there  is  no  training  in  anything  which  will  make  one 
equally  able  to  do  any  other  kind  of  work;  there  may  be  some 
improvement  from  one  subject  to  another;  there  may  be  inter- 
ference from  one  subject  to  another;  experiments  show  us 
further  something  of  the  nature  of  transfer  and  the  causes  or 
conditions  of  the  transfer. 

107 


108  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

We  are  interested,  then,  in  considering  the  nature  and 
amount  of  improvement  which  may  cross  from  one  field  to 
another;  and  the  way  in  which  we  can  make  sure  of  the  trans- 
fers where  they  are  possible.  But  first  we  must  be  sure  to 
eliminate  certain  things  which  might  seem  to  indicate  general 
improvement  or  transfer  of  training  but  which  must  really  be 
explained  on  other  grounds. 

Factors  that  complicate  the  discussion.  We  must  be  sure 
that  what  we  attribute  to  study  of  some  subject  is  not  simply 
the  result  of  the  growth  and  normal  development  of  the  stu- 
dent; that  is  to  say,  an  individual  may  do  better  in  all  subjects, 
not  because  he  has  put  special  attention  on  mathematics,  or 
Greek,  but  simply  beqause  he  is  a  year  older.  In  the  next  place 
we  must  remember  that  men  are  not  necessarily  successful 
because  they  have  studied  hard  subjects.  It  is  likely  that  they 
had  it  in  them  to  be  successful  whatever  they  studied,  and 
being  good  students,  having  good  stuff  in  them,  was 
partially  the  cause  of  their  choosing  the  hard  subjects,  and  not 
the  study  of  the  hard  subjects  the  cause  of  their  success.  It 
is  undoubtedly  true,  of  course,  that  the  proper  study  of  hard 
subjects  was  a  valuable  part  of  their  training. 

Finally,  one  should  not  confuse  the  spread  of  training  with 
the  transfer  of  training.  The  improvement  of  one  hand  after 
the  other  hand  is  used  is  not  due  to  transfer;  when  one  hand 
is  trained  the  use  of  the  other  is  modified,  if  for  no  other 
reason,  because  the  brain  centers  connected  with  the  hands 
are  modified  and  are  better  able  to  direct  either  hand;  also, 
both  hands  may  be  somewhat  active  when  one  is  being  train- 
ed; or,  again,  the  training  of  one  eye  which  results  in  improve- 
ment of  the  other  eye,  most  likely  involves  the  use  of  both  eyes 
in  the  training.  Such  things  must  be  distinguished  from  the 
transfer  of  training. 

The  extent  of  transfer.  If  now  we  consider  the  extent  of 
improvement  from  one  field  to  another,  we  have  evidence 
from  experiment  to  give  us  partial  answer.  Improvement  has 
appeared,  for  example,  in  several  ways.  Judging  the  size  of 
certain  areas  brought  about  improvement  in  judging  the  size 
of  larger  areas  of  the  same  shape  and  areas  of  different  shape; 
improvement  transferred  was  from  30  per  cent,  to  52  per  cent, 
as  great  as  the  improvement  in  the  judgments  of  the  areas 
practised.  Practice  in  estimating  weights  brought  improve- 
ment in  estimating  heavier  weights  39  per  cent,  as  great  as  the 
improvement  with   the   weights   used   in   practice.     But   the 


THE  TRANSFER  OF  ACQUISITIONS  109 

improvement  in  judging  parts  of  speech  that  was  21  per  cent, 
in  reduction  of  time  and  70  per  cent,  in  reduction  of  omissions, 
gave  a  transfer  to  the  judgments  of  other  parts  of  speech  in 
reduction  of  time  of  only  3  per  cent,  and  an  actual  increase  in 
omissions  of  more  than  100  per  cent.  Here,  then,  we  find 
training  in  one  performance  interfering  with  action  in  another 
performance.  Other  studies  show  that  an  improvement  in 
one  activity  may  bring  about  from  20  per  cent,  to  80  per  cent, 
as  much  improvement  in  other  activities. 

But  they  show  also  considerable  interference.  Increase  of 
speed  frequently  brings  about  decrease  in  accuracy.  Practice 
in  writing  digits  for  letters  has  helped  in  writing  symbols  for 
digits,  but  has  interfered  with  writing  digits  for  symbols,  and 
the  longer  the  drill  was  spread  out  in  time  the  greater  was  the 
interference.  Practice  in  memorizing  some  kinds  of  material 
has  frequently  helped  memorizing  other  kinds  of  material, 
but,  for  example,  drill  in  memorizing  prose  has  hindered  sub- 
sequent memorizing  of  nonsense  syllables.  Experiment  and 
experience  also  show  other  interferences,  for  example,  learn- 
ing to  cross  out  certain  letters  may  bring  about  interferences 
in  crossing  out  other  letters;  learning  to  finger  one  kind  of 
musical  instrument  makes  a  temporary  interference  with 
learning  to  finger  some  other  kinds  of  instruments.  Some 
experiments  also  point  to  the  probable  fact  that  the  more  ex- 
pert one  is  in  a  certain  thing  the  greater  interference  may  be 
found  in  changing  to  other  opjerations  which  involve  the  habits 
that  are  developed  to  the  point  of  expertness. 

In  thinking  of  the  transfers  and  the  per  cent  of  transfer 
that  has  just  been  mentioned,  we  must  remember  that  these 
results  were  obtained  under  conditions  which  favored  the 
transfer.  Other  experiments  can  be  cited  which  show  no 
evidence  of  any  transfer  whatsoever.  We  must  therefore  not 
assume  that  as  many  transfers  or  as  large  a  percent  of  transfer 
ordinarilv  takes  place  in  the  course  of  the  education  of  the 
students  in  our  schools  and  colleges.  All  the  evidence  we  have 
indicates  that  in  the  latter  situation,  transfers  are  less  frequent 
and  smaller  in  amount. 

The  nature  of  transfer.  We  are  also  specially  interested  in 
knowing  what  it  is  that  transfers;  no  small  part  of  an  educa- 
tion lies  in  acquiring  those  habits,  or  whatever  they  may  be, 
which  will  help  not  only  in  the  subject  in  whose  study  they 
are  learned  but  also  in  other  situations  of  life.  (See  also  eh. 
14). 


110  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

It  is  obvious  that  one  cannot  study  a  subject  very  thoroughly 
without  in  some  way  changing  his  point  of  view  or  his  attitude. 
One  is  a  different  individual  in  so  far  as  one  has  had  added 
experiences;  the  nervous  system  is  modified;  the  outlook  of 
the  person  cannot  be  just  the  same  as  before,  when  one  has 
studied  a  subject  where  careful  and  critical  thinking  has  been 
demanded.  A  person  is  likely  to  be  less  inclined  to  accept 
statements  unthinkingly;  he  may  grow  into  the  habit  of  asking 
the  question,  Is  that  true?  or,  in  what  way  can  I  apply  this  fact 
to  my  work?  Or  a  student  may  go  into  the  laboratory  and 
tend  to  react  quickly  and  impulsively  and  to  produce  careless 
work  with  many  details  overlooked;  but  the  demands  of  the 
course,  if  it  be  well  taught,  make  the  student  more  careful; 
he  may  now  get  into  the  habit  of  doing  much  better  work;  of 
being  dissatisfied  with  careless  work;  of  desiring  to  do  and 
being  pleased  only  with  the  better  quality  of  work.  So  the 
experiences  of  life,  influence  of  others,  lectures,  interviews, 
things  read,  may  dispose  one  to  act  differently;  to  be  more 
accurate,  to  be  more  sympathetic,  to  be  more  honest,  or  more 
neat,  or  more  punctual.  In  short,  one  may  learn  from  one 
situation  or  study  that  which  will  change  his  attitude,  his  dis- 
position, so  that  he  will  respond  differently  thereafter  in  many 
situations  of  life. 

Again,  it  is  found  that  one  may  learn  methods  of  doing 
things  and  transfer  their  use  to  other  situations;  methods  of 
study  may  apply  to  all  kinds  of  study;  methods  of  handling 
apparatus,  of  memorizing,  of  grouping  facts  or  of  outlining 
material  may  be  of  wide  application.  Indeed  the  improve- 
ment found  in  many  experimental  studies  is  found  to  be  due 
very  largely  if  not  almost  wholly  to  better  methods.  These 
methods  may  apply  to  many  other  lines  of  work  than  that  in 
which  they  are  learned. 

The  knowledge  of  facts  may  also  transfer  from  the  subject 
in  which  they  are  learned;  they  may  be  recalled  and  used  in 
situations  widely  different;  they  may  form  the  bases  of  judg- 
ments; and  they  may  of  course  change  the  attitude  and  thus 
the  response  of  the  learner. 

Factors  in  transfer.  Without  attempting  to  classify  we  may 
mention  the  following  transfers  which  have  been  reported  by 
students  of  the  problem:  Improved  methods,  improved  habits 
of  attention  and  will;  moral  qualities  such  as  diligence,  per- 
severance, and  intensity  of  application;  method  of  orientation, 
that  is  to  say,  special  training  gives  us  ability  to  respond  more 


THE  TRANSFER  OF  ACQUISITIONS  111 

favorably  in  a  new  situation;  better  discrimination  in  the  same 
field,  for  example,  of  colors,  or  of  judging  length  of  lines; 
facile  adaptation  of  attention  and  control  of  mental  imagery; 
adjustment  to  apparatus  and  to  general  conditions;  special 
methods,  general  methods;  habits  of  analyzing  each  new  situ- 
ation, or  of  trying  to  induce  variations  instead  of  repeating  an 
unsuccessful  reaction  time  after  time;  confident  and  self- 
reliant  attitude  toward  a  new  situation;  habit  of  keeping  up 
active  attention  during  the  course  of  practice,  and  of  looking 
for  improved  methods  and  higher  units,  instead  of  settling 
down  to  a  mediocre  performance. 

We  are  told  that:  "Transfer  is  readiest  in  the  realm  of  ideas: 
and  the  more  definitely  a  method  of  work,  either  special  or 
general,  has  been  conceived  and  formulated,  the  wider  is  the 
field  of  its  probably  usefulness.  It  may  be  remarked  in  pass- 
ing that  all  these  admittedly  possible  forms  of  so-called  trans- 
ference when  taken  together,  amount  to  a  tolerably  complete 
summary  of  the  most  essential  factors  in  what  is  popularly 
included  in  the  training,  or  culture  of  the  mind."  (55).  It  is 
worthy  of  note  also  to  recall  the  early  conclusion  of  Wood- 
worth  and  Thorndike:  "The  mind  works  in  great  detail, 
adapting  itself,  of  necessity,  to  the  particular  material  with 
which  it  has  to  deal;  and,  therefore,  that  training  in  one  per- 
formance could  only  help  another  when  the  two  had  elemen- 
tary factors  in  common."  The  study  has  only  begun,  pnd  we 
must  wait  patiently  to  know  more  about  what  is  transferable 
and  from  what  subjects,  and  especially  by  what  methods,  the 
greatest  number  and  the  most  important  transfers  can  be  had. 

Transfers,  though  possible,  may  not  take  place.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  while  transfers  are  often  possible,  they  may 
not  take  place.  In  fact,  we  cannot  expect  them  to  take  place 
unless  certain  conditions  of  transfer  are  present.  Two  stu- 
dents may  study  the  same  thing,  one  getting  a  transfer  or 
transfers  to  other  situations,  the  other  getting  no  transfer;  or 
the  same  student  may  at  one  time  study  so  as  to  get  transfers, 
and  at  another  time  he  may  study  so  that  he  will  fail  to  get 
any  transfer. 

the  conditions  of  transfer.  We  may  now  ask  what  condi- 
tions are  necessary  in  order  to  secure  transfers  where  they  are 
possible.  This  question  can  be  answered,  at  least  partially, 
from  the  results  of  experimental  studies.  Certain  conditions 
have  been  found  to  bring  about  transfer,  whereas,  the  transfer 
failed  to  take  place  when  these  conditions  were  absent.  Bagley 


112  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

found,  for  example,  that  a  child  might  be  taught  to  be  neat  in 
writing  papers  for  one  subject  but  that  he  would  not  thereby 
learn  to  be  neat  in  other  subjects;  later  investigations  showed 
that  when  the  child  was  roused  to  have  the  ideal  of  neatness, 
the  habit  transferred  in  many  cases  to  papers  in  other  subjects. 
The  presence  of  the  ideal  of  the  habit  to  be  transferred  is, 
then,  one  of  the  conditions  of  transfer.  Being  definitely  con- 
scious of  the  thing  to  be  transferred  and  making  the  attempt 
to  transfer  it,  that  is,  trying  to  apply  it  to  some  other  situation 
makes  the  transfer  more  likely.     (9). 

Judd  tells  us  that  "Transfer  depends  on  the  power  of  gener- 
alization. The  first  and  most  striking  fact  which  is  to  be 
drawn  from  school  experience  is  that  one  and  the  same  subject 
matter  may  be  employed  with  one  and  the  same  student  with 
wholly  different  effects,  according  to  the  mode  of  presentation. 
If  the  lesson  is  presented  in  one  fashion  it  will  produce  a  very 
large  transfer;  whereas  if  it  is  presented  in  an  entirely  differ- 
ent fashion  it  will  be  utterly  barren  of  results  for  other  phases 

of  mental  life A  teacher  can  teach  birds  and  plants  in 

such  a  way  as  to  arouse  a  minimum  of  ideas  in  the  student's 

mind On  the  other  hand,  the  same  subject  matter  may 

be  taken  by  a  different  teacher,  and  under  other  methods  can 
be  made  vital  for  the  student's  whole  thinking.  James  cites 
the  example  of  his  own  experience  with  a  smoking  student- 
lamp.  He  discovered  by  accident  that  the  lamp  would  not 
smoke  if  he  put  something  under  the  chimney  so  as  to  increase 
the  air  current,  but  he  did  not  realize  that  what  he  had  done 
was  only  one  particular  example  of  the  general  principle  that 
combustion  is  favored  by  a  large  supply  of  oxygen.  The  gen- 
eral principle  and  its  useful  application  belong  to  a  sphere  of 
thinking  and  experience  which  the  untrained  layman  has  not 
yet  mastered."     (51). 

In  this  connection  it  is  fitting  to  recall  the  interesting  foot- 
note which  Karl  Pearson  thought  it  worth  while  to  add  to  the 
discussion  of  scientific  method  in  his  Grammar  of  Science. 
"Personally,"  he  writes,  "I  have  no  recollection  of  at  least  90 
per  cent,  of  the  facts  that  were  taught  me  at  school,  but  the 
notions  of  method  which  I  derived  from  my  instructor  in 
Greek  grammar  (the  contents  of  which  I  have  long  since  for- 
gotten) remain  in  my  mind  as  the  really  valuable  part  of  my 
school  equipment  for  life."     (77). 

Transfers  actually  taking  place  in  our  schools.  The  writer 
has  made  an  attempt  to  discover  transfers  and  the  causes  of 


THE  TRANSFER  OF  ACQUISITIONS  113 

transfers  that  are  actually  taking  place  in  education.  The 
observers  were  to  record  things  that  had  been  learned  in  one 
study  or  situation  which  they  found  active,  either  to  help  or  to 
hinder,  in  other  studies  and  situations.  Six  observers  worked 
systematically  and  reports  were  also  had  from  several  college 
classes.  Many  of  the  things  mentioned  were  too  indefinite  to 
be  of  much  value.  But  there  was  considerable  concurrence  in 
certain  respects.  And  the  value  of  these  reports  lies  largely 
in  the  fact  of  corroboration  by  different  observers  who  re- 
ported independently  of  one  another. 

Those  conditions  recurring  in  the  reports  of  both  systematic 
observers  and  students  in  my  classes  include  the  following  : 
Realization  of  advantage  or  usefulness  or  importance  of  the 
thina  that  transferred.  Feeling  of  need  or  actual  demand  for 
application.  Desire  to  use,  or  to  apply,  desire  for  results, 
interest,  desire  to  improve.  A  few  observers  mentioned  for 
many  transfers,  the  continuance  of  a  well  formed  habit  or  of 
the  use  of  a  method  that  had  become  thoroughly  habitual. 
Some  observers  recognized  that  a  combination  of  some  of  these 
conditions  had  been  the  cause  of  the  transfers.  In  a  number 
of  cases  these  observers  also  mention  the  method  of  instruc- 
tion of  their  teacher  as  being  the  cause  of  the  transfer.  The 
teacher,  in  other  words,  had  aroused  in  them  the  desire  to 
apply  what  they  learned,  had  shown  them  the  advantage  of  so 
doing  and  had  shown  them  how  to  make  the  application. 

We  must  undoubtedly  conclude  that  there  are  various  con- 
ditions of  transfer;  others  that  we  have  not  yet  discovered  may 
be  found;  whether  or  not  they  can  all  be  reduced  to  a  single 
type  is  a  question  and  it  is,  perhaps,  too  early  to  attempt  to 
decide  this  matter. 

Maxims  for  bringing  about  transfers.  If  we  were  to  state 
maxims  for  getting  transfers  and  for  directing  our  education 
so  that  the  greatest  amount  of  desirable  transfer  could  be  had, 
the  following  might  be  stated:  Choose  those  subjects  in  which 
there  is  the  largest  number  of  things  common  to  many  situa- 
tions in  life.  Choose  the  best  teacher,  and  sometimes  choose 
the  teacher  instead  of  the  subject.  Form  the  habits  and  learn 
the  methods  that  can  be  used  helpfully  in  many  situations.  Be 
conscious  of  the  "notion"  of  idea  of  method  and  form  the  habit 
of  applying  what  is  learned.  Have  the  ideal  of  the  thing  to  be 
transferred.  Tr}^  to  generalize.  Realize  the  value  or  advan- 
tage of  making  transfers.  Cultivate  valuable  attitudes  and 
points  of  view. 


114  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

Mentioning  these  things  as  we  have  emphasizes  the  fact  that 
transfers  depend  upon  the  student,  and  upon  the  ways  of 
doing  things,  as  well  as  upon  the  teacher.  The  teacher  should 
also  remember  that  he  must  help  the  student  to  do  the  things 
mentioned  above.  Standards  should  be  set  according  to  the 
point  of  progress  of  the  student,  ideals  should  be  made  con- 
scious in  the  student,  and  no  teacher  should  accept  inferior 
work. 

Transfers  and  the  choice  of  subjects.  From  the  psycholog- 
ical point  of  view  the  student  has  at  least  two  main  problems 
in  the  choice  of  subjects  so  far  as  he  has  any  choice.  On  the 
one  hand,  he  should  have  a  specific  training  for  something;  a 
training  which  shall  make  it  possible  for  him  to  do  something 
and  to  do  it  well.  On  the  other  hand  he  has  the  problem  of 
general  education,  as  it  is  called,  of  learning  those  things,  and 
of  becoming  acquainted  with  those  fields  which  will  make  him 
a  possessor  of  the  common  heritage  of  his  people,  which  will 
give  him  that  common  knowledge  and  insight  into  the  activi- 
ties and  institutions  of  the  people  with  whom  he  will  live. 
When  he  may  choose,  then,  he  should  choose  those  subjects 
which  give  him  the  information  and  insight  and  acquaintance 
with  things  that  are  required  of  the  educated  person,  making 
the  choice  such  that  he  will  study  subjects  which  have  the 
largest  number  of  elements  in  common  with  future  living,  and 
which  will  demand  of  him  the  formation  of  those  habits  which 
will  be  the  most  useful  later;  and  wherein  he  will  learn  the 
best  ideas  of  method,  and  the  highest  ideals,  and  be  aroused 
to  the  desire  to  apply  what  he  has  learned.  It  is,  therefore,  as 
we  have  already  said,  not  merely  a  choice  of  subject  matter, 
but  also  a  choice  of  teachers,  since  one  teacher  may  teach  so 
that  many  transfers  result  and  another  teacher  fail  altogether 
in  this  respect. 

A  subject  supposedly  of  hiah  disciplinary  value  may  be 
taught  so  as  to  be  of  less  disciplinary  value  than  any  other  well 
taught  subject.  That  is  to  say,  the  demands  that  are  put  upon 
the  student,  the  way  in  which  he  studies,  are  perhaps,  of  more 
importance  than  the  subject  itself.  Certain  subjects  are  or 
may  be  of  more  disciplinary  value  than  others,  because  they 
offer  better  opportunities  for,  or  demand  better  use  of,  the 
student's  intellectual  activities.  But  again,  the  subjects  that 
are  not  supposed  to  be  of  hi^h  disciplinary  value  may  be 
studied  so  as  to  be  of  great  disciplinary  value.  Remember 
that  the  most  valuable  thing  is  the  right  use  of  the  mind,  the 


THE  TRANSFER  OF  ACQUISITIONS  115 

formation  of  the  right  habits  of  study,  the  gaining  of  the  right 
ideas  of  method  and  habits  of  method,  attaining  the  highest 
ideals  and  the  desire  to  apply.  It  should  be  added  that  the 
student  should  stud}^  subjects  hard  enough  to  call  out  his  best 
efforts,  subjects  which  appeal  to  him  as  worthy  of  his  powers. 
The  value  of  intensive  study.  The  sufficiently  intensive 
study  of  some  one  thing  may  broaden  a  student  in  a  way  of 
which  he  never  dreamed.  Tennyson  suggested  that  if  w^e 
knew  enough  about  the  flower  in  the  crannied  wall,  we  would 
know  what  God  and  man  are.  All  knowledge  may  be  likened 
to  a  ball  and  all  parts  of  this  knowledge  may  be  likened  to 
lines  which  lead  from  the  surface  to  the  center;  these  lines  are 
interconnected.  If  we  should  go  deep  enough  on  any  one  of 
these  lines  we  w^ould  approach  this  center;  and  if  we  should  be 
thorough  as  we  go  along  we  should  work  out  on  many  inter- 
secting lines.  We  would  thus  travel  far  towards  the  center 
of  knowledge  and  at  the  same  time  learn  much  of  the  related 
subjects.  In  other  w^ords,  thorough  intensive  study  may  at  the 
same  time  be  broad. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  Distinguish  between  the  old  statement  of  The  Dogma  of 
Formal  Discipline  and  the  present?  day  statement  of  The 
Transfer  of  Training. 

2.  Why  is  the  old  extreme  view  impossible  to  accept? 

3.  What  kinds  of  general  improvement  may  take  place? 

4.  To  what  may  improvement  be  due  besides  transfers  of 
training? 

5.  What  improvements  have  you  ever  made  in  one  field 
and  thereby  made  improvement  in  other  fields? 

6.  Discuss  the  value  of  taking  one  subject  for  improvement 
in  general.  Be  sure  to  deal  with  both  the  positive  and  nega- 
tive aspects  of  the  problem. 

7.  If  a  person  wanted  to  make  certain  kinds  of  improve- 
ment, what  advice  would  you  give  him  in  regard  to  making 
that  improvement  most  economically? 

8.  Piscuss  the  value  of  general  improvement  even  though 
it  be  small  in  amount. 

9.  Is  it  advisable  to  take  a  subject  in  school  purely  for  its 
disciplinary  value? 

10.  On  what  general  principles  should  one  choose  subjects 
in  school  or  college? 


116  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 


11.  Where  general  improvement  is  possible  how  would  you 
make  sure  of  getting  it? 

REFERENCES. 

Bagley,  W.  C.  The  Educative  Process.  The  Macmillan  Co.,  1906, 
Ch.  13. 

CoLviN,  S.  S.  The  Learning  Process.  The  Macmillan  Co.,  1911.  Chs. 
14,  15  and  16. 

CoovER,  J.  E.  Formal  Discipline  from  the  Standpoint  of  Experi- 
mental Psychology.  Psychol.  Rev.  Mon.  Series.,  Vol.  20,  No.  3,  Jan. 
1916.     Whole  No.'87.,  Pp.  viii,  307. 

Heck,  W.  H.  Mental  Discipline  and  Educational  Values.  2nd  Ed.» 
1911. 


Chapter  10. 
MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION. 

The  modern  conception  of  memory.  The  modern  concep- 
tion of  memory  leads  us  to  think  of  it  as  a  form  of  habit;  (66), 
the  recall  of  facts  in  memory  is  brought  about  in  much  the 
same  manner  as  all  habitual  response.  In  other  words,  the 
making  of  memories  makes  at  the  same  time  dispositions  in 
the  nervous  system,  opens  certain  paths  of  discharge,  and  the 
more  practice,  the  more  easily  and  certainly  will  these  paths, 
these  dispositions,  act  or  function  again  as  they  functioned 
before  if  only  the  right  stimulus  comes  along. 

Memory  is  commonly  thought  of  as  being  a  "storehouse"  of 
ideas.  But,  if  we  wish  to  hold  to  that  gross  notion,  we  must 
remember  two  facts;  first,  that  memories  change  by  subtrac- 
tion, dropping  out  of  details;  a  memory  is  not  as  full  or  ac- 
curate a  few  days  or  weeks  after  the  learning  as  at  first;  and, 
second,  that  memories  change  by  addition;  addition  from 
later  experiences,  perceptions  and  other  memories,  and  also 
from  the  creative  imagination.  The  psychology  of  testimony 
gives  us  ample  illustration  of  both  kinds  of  change.  The 
"storehouse"  idea  is,  then,  misleading.  Memorizing  is  prac- 
tice for  recall;  learning  a  skillful  act  is  also  practice  for  recall; 
the  first  being  recall  of  nervous  activities  which  reinstate  with 
greater  or  less  accuracy  the  ideas  desired;  the  second  being 
the  recall  of  nervous  activities  which  bring  about  the  desired 
actions. 

Another  fact  is  that  the  term  memory  itself  is  likely  to  be 
misleading.  We  have  many  memories,  or  many  kinds  of 
memories,  and  that  is  a  fundamental  fact  that  should  be  kept 
in  mind.  Psycholog\^  has  not  far  to  look  for  proof  of  the  ex- 
istence of  many  memories.  The  successful  business  man  may 
have  good  memories  for  many  kinds  of  things,  but  he  fre- 
quently has  a  good  memory  for  his  line  of  work  and  miserably 
poor  memories  for  other  things;  students  who  have  memorized 
a  great  deal  of  one  kind  of  material,  do  not  find  a  correspond- 
ing improvement  of  ability  in  memorizing  other  kinds  of 
material;  pathological  cases  show  loss  of  one  kind  of  memory 
while  the  other  memories  remain  unchanged.  We  have,  then, 
not  memory,  but  many  memories. 

117 


118  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

The  conditions  of  memory.  The  secrets  of  good  memories 
have  been  partly  revealed  in  the  preceding  chapters.  For  the 
way  to  get  the  best  results  in  memory  is  to  have  the  right  con- 
ditions for  study  and  study  according  to  the  best  methods.  As 
Watt  puts  it,  "Do  not  try  to  improve  your  memory.  Try  to 
learn  better." 

All  the  conditions  which  we  can  name  for  attention  and  for 
observation  are  also  conditions  of  memory  and  help  to  de- 
termine what  and  how  well  we  shall  remember.  Attention  is 
a  prime  condition  of  memory.  The  factors  that  determine 
attention,  are,  then,  determinants  of  memory  so  far  as  they 
function.  (See  chapters  on  Making  the  Appeal  to  the  Student, 
and  Attention  and  Sustained  Effort.) 

In  like  manner  all  the  factors  that  make  for  the  right  feel- 
ings make  also  for  memory :  the  arousal  of  instinctive  tenden- 
cies, curiosity,  emulation,  etc.,  the  suggestion  that  brings  the 
right  set  or  mood,  the  control  of  bodily  conditions  and  action, 
acquiring  pleasing  or  valuable  knowledge,  having  a  purpose,  a 
determination,  and  especially  an  intention  to  remember. 

Association  is  the  grouping  of  impressions,  and  the  primary 
law,  so  called,  of  association  is  that  conscious  processes  are 
likely  to  recur  with  those  conscious  processes  with  which  they 
earlier  appeared;  given,  that  is  to  say,  any  conscious  process, 
as  it  appears,  any  or  all  processes  that  were  earlier  associated 
with  it  are  likely  to  appear.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
they  may  have  been  together  under  any  one  of  many  different 
circumstances, — with  attention  or  with  inattention,  clearly  or 
vaguely,  for  a  long  time  or  for  the  briefest  moment,  on  only 
one  occasion  or  at  a  number  of  times.  These  other  factors, 
besides  the  mere  being  together,  are  also  factors  that  de- 
termine our  memories.  Mere  association  would  not  neces- 
sarily make  for  retention.  Ability  to  recall  depends  upon  the 
conditions  under  which  the  associations  are  made. 

These  conditions  indicate  what  are  called  the  secondary 
laws  of  association  of  which  the  following  are  the  most  im- 
portant: (some  have  already  been  mentioned  but  are  included 
in  the  following  list)  attention,  feelings,  emotional  impress- 
iveness,  'will,'  want  or  need,  feeling  of  social  pressure,  fre- 
quency of  repetition,  duration  of  the  stimulus,  vividness,  re- 
cency, primacy,  age,  regularity,  number  of  previous  connec- 
tions, order  of  learning,  rate  of  learning,  distribution  of  time, 
nature  of  material,  divisions  of  material,  length  of  material, 
logical  connection,  rhythm,  warming  up   period,  hardening 


MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION  119 

period,  fatigue,  physiological  conditions,  habits,  individual 
differences,  number  of  senses  involved, — all  are  given  as  de- 
terminants of  memory. 

Viuidncss,  frequency  of  repetition,  duration,  recency,  and 
primacy.  Attention  and  feeling  disposition  are  prime  con- 
ditions of  good  memory;  so  are  the  factors  of  vividness,  fre- 
quency of  repetition,  duration,  recency  and  primacy  of  im- 
pression. It  needs  no  argument  or  example  to  prove  that 
vividness  of  impression  means  greater  likelihood  of  retention; 
emotional  impressiveness,  pleasantness  or  unpleasantness,  the 
whole  feeling  reaction,  may  be  important  solely  for  the  vivid- 
ness of  impression  which  accompanies  it.  It  is  a  question 
how  many  of  the  other  factors  mentioned  could  not  be  reduced 
to  a  matter  of  vividness.     We  shall  discuss  them  separately. 

Frequency  of  repetition.  The  law  most  commonly  recog- 
nized and  most  frequently  relied  upon  is  that  of  frequency  of 
repetition;  it  is  pretty  certain  that  if  a  thing  is  repeated  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  times  it  will  leave  some  impression.  What  is 
said  later  about  the  presence  of  the  intention  to  remember, 
indicates  the  limitation  of  this  law  however.  Drill  work  in 
the  schools  w^hich  was  once  very  popular  became  less  so  as 
teachers  began  to  emphasize  the  need  of  the  pupil's  under- 
standing everything  he  learned.  But  experiments  have  shown 
that  while  the  understanding  is  very  important,  the  repetition 
is  also  important,  and  drill  is  rightly  becoming  fashionable 
again.  Again,  let  us  say,  understanding  is  an  immense  aid  in 
memorizing.  But  it  has  not  proved  to  take  the  place  of  fre- 
quency of  repetition. 

The  duration  of  any  impression  naturally  has  much  the 
same  effect  in  deepening  an  impression.  Thoughts  aroused 
by  a  hasty  skimming  of  the  daily  paper,  the  hundred  and  one 
ideas  that  flit  through  the  mind  in  the  course  of  the  day,  are 
generally  doomed  to  an  early  oblivion.  But  the  ideas  that  are 
held  until  they  are  once  clear,  the  thoughts  that  are  turned 
over  in  the  mind,  are  impressed  and  associated  with  other 
thoughts,  and  are  proportionately  more  likely  to  be  remem- 
bered. 

An  accumulation  of  repetitions.  Meumann  has  made  a 
careful  summary  of  facts  in  connection  with  an  accumulation 
of  repetitions  and  we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  his  conclu- 
sions: "What  is  the  effect,"  he  asks,  "of  an  accumulation  of 
repetitions  of  any  given  material?  Let  us  assume  that  a 
material  which,  so   far  as  its   amount  is  concerned,  can  be 


120  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

learned  perfectly  well  at  a  single  sitting  is  learned  until  it  can 
be  repeated  once  from  memory.     What  now  is  the  effect  of 

additional  repetition? According  to  the  experiments  of 

Ebbinghaus  the  extra  repetitions  gradually  become  less  and 
less  effective  so  that,  for  instance,  a  disproportionately  large 
number  of  repetitions  must  be  employed  in  order  not  only  to 
attain  the  first  recitation  from  memory,  but  to  imprint  the 
material  so  indelibly  upon  memory  that  it  can  be  repeated 
without  error  at  the  end  of  twenty-four  hours,  or  can  be  re- 
tained permanently.  This  observation  was,  in  general,  con- 
firmed by  Weber  and  by  Knors;  but  these  investigators  also 
show  that  a  process  of  learning  which  has  been  continued  only 
to  the  point  where  a  first  recitation  from  memory  is  just  barely 
possible  does  not  by  any  means  guarantee  a  complete  mastery 
or  a  permanent  retention.  Many  additional  repetitions  are 
still  necessary  before  a  lasting  retention  is  attained.  It  is  clearly 
evident  that  immediate  reproduction  is  a  potent  factor  even  in 
this  process  of  'first  correct  recitation'  ". 

Continuing,  Meumann  writes:  "Certain  important  rules  for 
the  practice  of  teaching  may  be  derived  from  the  foregoing. 

1.  The  mere  act  of  learning  a  material  until  it  can  barely 
be  reproduced  never  secures  a  permanent  retention  in  the  case 
of  nonsense  material  of  considerable  bulk,  even  up  to  ten  or 
twelve  syllables;  in  the  case  of  significant  material  it  very 
seldom  secures  a  permanent  retention.     From  this  it  follows : 

2.  That  for  everything  which  is  to  be  retained  permanently, 
a  subsequent  'freshening'  by  means  of  additional  repetitions  is 
indispensible.     It  follows,  too, 

3.  That  we  should  not  be  content  to  regard  the  ability 
barely  to  recite  it  from  memory  as  an  indication  that  a 
material  has  been  memorized.  Really  permanent  retention  or 
complete  mastery  demands  many  more  repetitions  for  its 
achievement.  We  see  here  how  important  the  factor  of 
mechanical  learning  is  for  genuine  memorial  function.  That 
which  is  to  become  an  imperishable  possession  of  memory, — 
not  as  a  part  of  one's  systematized  body  of  knowledge,  but 
only  as  a  datum  of  concrete  cognition, — can  be  acquired  only 
at  the  cost  of  many  repetitions. 

4.  If  we  wish,  at  a  single  sitting,  to  learn  a  material  so  per- 
fectly that  it  will  be  retained  permanently  we  must  devote  an 
excessive  number  of  repetitions  to  it;  and  even  then  the  result, 
so  far  as  permanent  retention  is  concerned,  will  remain  in 
doubt."     (67). 


MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION  121 

Primacy  and  recency.  *'First  impressions  arc  lasting;"  and 
other  things  being  equal  the  most  recent  experience  makes  the 
deepest  impression.  We  remember  the  first  story  in  the  old 
school  reader,  and  carry  away  most  clearly  the  ideas  expressed 
by  the  last  speaker.  Other  factors  modify  the  working  of 
these,  of  course.  Other  laws  of  memory  are  working  at  the 
same  time.  For  example,  the  first  impression  is  likely  to  de- 
termine the  feeling  disposition.  But  the  most  recent  im- 
pressions, on  the  other  hand,  have  the  advantage  of  being  left 
without  interference  by  succeeding  impressions.  Both  laws, 
primacy  and  recency,  are  exceedingly  important.  Each  may 
be  disturbed  by  the  other,  or  by  still  other  laws. 

The  teacher  may  of  course  take  advantage  of  several  laws 
in  the  presentation  of  material.  That  material  which  he 
specially  wishes  to  be  remembered  he  may  present  at  the  out- 
set, thus  taking  advantage  of  primacy,  he  may  refer  to  it 
several  times  during  the  presentation,  thus  having  repetition, 
and  in  conclusion  he  may  bring  this  material  together  in  a 
summary  so  as  to  take  advantage  of  the  law  of  recency. 

Distribution  of  repetitions.  The  time  element  enters  into  the 
learning  in  other  ways  than  those  already  indicated.  Jost's 
law,  as  already  indicated,  states  that  "Of  two  associations 
which  are  of  equal  strength  but  of  different  ages,  the  older 
receives  the  greater  intensification  from  a  new  repetition." 
That  is  to  say,  the  older  memory  can  be  relearned  more  quick- 
ly if  it  has  faded. 

The  practical  significance  of  this  law  is,  for  example,  if  one 
has  to  memorize  material  that  will  take  approximately  six 
hours,  he  should  divide  the  time,  and  thus  give  an  opportunity 
to  make  associations  at  different  periods,  which  means  the 
opportunity  of  refreshing  older  impressions.  The  same  law 
indicates  one  of  the  reasons  for  having  children  learn  many 
valuable  things  early  in  life,  the  earlier  the  better. 

Besides  the  advantage  of  having  older  associations  to 
strengthen  by  this  division  of  study  periods,  there  is  another 
in  the  activity  that  continues  during  the  intervals  between 
study.  Improvement  is  often  found  at  the  beginning  of  study 
periods  which  points  to  the  making  of  progress  during  the  in- 
tervals; the  nature  of  the  activities  that  bring  about  this 
progress  is  not  definitely  known.  Perhaps  the  learning  pro- 
cesses actually  continue  after  one  stops  the  studying.  Perhaps, 
and  what  is  more  likely,  partly  formed  bad  habits  tend  to  drop 
out,  to  be  weakened  or  lost  during  the  intervals  of  practice. 


122  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

In  this  way  inhibitions  or  interferences  are  eliminated. 

Reviews  and  the  division  of  time.  Reviews  are  important 
for  preparation  for  advanced  work,  they  are  important  when 
one  is  preparing  for  an  examination  that  covers  a  term's  or  a 
year's  work.  One  of  my  advanced  students  who  has  taught 
history  for  a  number  of  years  found  that  the  surest  way  to  get 
her  pupils  through  the  state  examinations  was  to  organize  the 
work  so  that  the  most  important  things  recurred  systematically 
and  were  thus  reviewed  several  times  during  the  course.  This 
teacher  tells  me  that  the  suggestion  came  from  another  in- 
structor and  proved  so  successful  that,  whereas,  her  pupils 
formerly  often  failed  in  the  state  examinations,  she  now  suc- 
ceeded in  preparing  as  many  as  forty  pupils  and  with  not  a 
single  failure  in  the  examinations. 

In  preparation  for  advanced  work,  probably  the  best  method 
for  the  student  is  to  go  through  the  previous  notes  or  text  or 
both  and  mark  the  things  that  need  to  be  reviewed.  Then  the 
student  should  concentrate  on  these  things  until  they  are  thor- 
oughly learned. 

Experimental  study  of  the  value  of  reviews  for  a  short  as- 
signment. In  a  preliminary  study  the  author  has  made  ex- 
periments with  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth  grade,  high,  and 
normal  school  students,  to  discover  the  relative  value  of  61/2 
vs.  4  plus  2%  minutes  study  of  a  page  of  difficult  history,  a 
page  of  easier  history,  and  a  page  of  introduction  to  the  metric 
system.  Fourteen  classes  were  tested.  Each  class  was  divided 
into  a  review  and  a  non-review  group.  The  review  groups 
studied  a  page  of  history  mimeographed,  for  4  minutes,  then 
wrote  that  they  could  remember  for  exactly  12  minutes. 
Later  they  reviewed  for  21/2  minutes.  The  non-review  groups 
studied  for  61/2  minutes  at  one  time  and  then  wrote  for  exactly 
12  minutes.  In  some  experiments  the  non-review  groups 
studied  at  the  same  time  that  the  review  groups  studied.  In 
some  experiments  they  studied  when  the  review  groups  had 
their  review.  In  this  way  the  factor  of  recency  was  checked 
up.  Both  groups  were  later  given  an  examination  at  the  sarne 
time.  The  groups  were  divided  on  the  basis  of  scholarship 
according  to  school  grades.  Fourteen  experiments  were  made 
with  fourteen  different  classes.  In  all  there  were  730  cases. 
Experiment  1  was  done  with  a  page  of  history  that  was  too 
difficult.  Experiments  2-9  were  done  with  an  easier  page  of 
history.  Experiments  10-14  were  on  the  metric  system.  In 
experiments  1-3  the  review  groups  had  the  advantage  of  re- 


MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION 


123 


ccncy.  In  all  other  experiments  the  review  groups  reviewed 
at  the  same  time  the  non-review  groups  studied  so  that  neither 
groups  had  the  advantage  of  recency. 

"The  average  superiority  of  the  review  groups  in  the  first 
three  experiments  where  the  review  groups  had  the  advantage 
of  recency  is  93  per  cent.  The  average  superiority  in  the  other 
experiments  is  67  per  cent,  and  if  we  eliminate  experiment  12, 
it  is  just  less  than  30  per  cent.  The  extreme  result  in  the 
twelfth  experiment  is  due  to  the  fact  of  several  failures  and 
near  failures  in  the  non-review  group."  (24).  (See  Fig.  10). 
The  experiments  without  exception  show  that  the  division  of 
time  so  as  to  allow  a  short  review  period  is  valuable.  It  is 
generally  known  that  the  division  of  time  for  large  amounts 
of  material  is  very  important.  As  suggested  in  the  article  just 
quoted,  it  may  be  that  the  value  of  reviews  is  directly  propor- 
tional to  the  difficulty  of  the  learning. 


^w. 


77-/%K 


^  ISO  ?f    z/     z:^  t4  zx-    38    /4   J/    ^o  3^  ^4o  3o  zy 

Tests:    /     Z      3      4f      S-     6        7     6      ^      /O     //    /Z   J3    M 

Fig.  10.  The  lower  curve  represents  the  non-review,  the  upper  curve  the  re- 
view groups.  Superiority  of  review  groups  in  percents  in  experiments  i  to  14 
is  as  follows,  respectively:   180,  79,  21,  17,  24,  22,  38,  14,  39,  50,  35,  440,  30,  27.' 


The  *' warming  up'  period.  The  division  of  time  involves 
other  factors:  the  "warming  up"  period,  the  "hardening" 
period,  and  fatigue.  The  nervous  system  works  very  much 
like  a  machine.  If  one  watches  a  lathe  as  the  turner  begins 
work  in  the  morning,  one  notices  that  after  the  belt  is  thrown 
on  the  lathe  starts,  gathers  speed,  and  is  soon  going  merrily. 
After  a  moment  or  two  the  observer  notices  a  continuing  in- 
crease of  speed;  the  machine  is  getting  "warmed  up"  and  for 
the  first  few  minutes  does  not  attain  its  greatest  speed.  So 
with  the  nervous  system  and  mental  activity:   the  first  few 


124  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

minutes  do  not  give  the  best  results,  and  a  study  period  should 
be  long  enough  to  allow  taking  advantage  of  the  warming 
period. 

Fatigue.  At  the  other  end  of  the  study  period  there  is  the 
factor  of  fatigue.  This,  as  has  been  said,  is  to  be  distinguished 
from  weariness  or  the  feeling  of  fatigue.  This  feeling  is  not 
an  index  of  actual  fatigue;  the  feeling  may  come  prematurely 
on  account  of  lazy  habits  of  stopping  long  before  one  is  really 
tired,  or,  if  frequently  disregarded  when  one  is  working  long 
hours,  perhaps  with  insufficient  sleep,  the  feeling  may  fail  to 
appear  and  be  a  warning  against  overwork.  Experiment 
shows  that  the  time  during  which  the  same  quantity  and 
quality  of  work  can  be  sustained  can  be  lengthened  greatly 
over  what  is  commonly  believed.  Eight,  ten  and  twelve  hours 
have  been  tried  successfully,  for  example,  in  multiplication 
work. 

This  does  not  prove,  however,  that  very  long  hours  of  study 
are  the  most  economical  and  best  in  the  long  run  for  study  or 
for  health.  The  fact  is  that  fatigue  lowers  the  quality  and 
lessens  the  quantity  of  work  and  is  to  be  avoided.  The  fact  is, 
also,  that  work  for  fairly  long  periods  is  less  harmful  than  has 
been  supposed,  and  that  a  good  deal  of  the  injury  attributed 
to  work  and  study  is  the  rqsult  of  poor  bodily  conditions,  in- 
sufficient fresh  air,  sleep,  exercise,  proper  food,  and  the 
presence  of  abnormal  emotional  states.  In  fact,  one  way  to 
improve  the  memory  is  to  improve  the  physical  conditions. 

The  *' hardening**  period.  It  has  further  been  found  that  one 
can  take  advantage  of  what  has  been  termed  the  "hardening" 
period.  This  is  the  period  immediately  following  a  study 
period.  If,  during  a  few  minutes  directly  after  study,  one  lets 
his  mind  dwell  on  the  subject  of  study,  permits  no  distractions, 
no  other  thoughts  to  come,  does  not  turn  his  attention  to  some 
other  topic,  the  things  learned  will  have  a  chance  to  sink  in, 
so  to  speak;  interference  with  the  ideas  will  be  avoided;  the 
associations  just  made  will  not  be  broken  up.  Three  or  four 
minutes  may  very  profitably  be  used  as  a  hardening  period. 

The  value  of  comparatively  short  periods.  Experiment  has 
shown  us  more  in  regard  to  the  division  of  time.  Economy 
requires  avoidance  of  fatigue,  elimination  of  the  over  long 
study  period;  economy  may  also  be  gained  under  some  cir- 
cumstances, at  least,  by  the  use  of  very  short  periods.  In 
memorizing  non-sense  syllables,  Ebbinghaus  found  that  for 
later  relearning,  thirty-eight  repetitions  distributed  over  three 


MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION 


125 


Number  of 

^-  - 

8u&3tltution3 

it^iJ 

240 

330 

220 

210 

300 

y^ 

190 

/ 

180 

/y\y 

170 

//   >- 

160 

^yy  y 

150 

/^  / 

140 

f/^  y 

130 

'  Jf^  -^^  ^y 

130 

'  /l^''^y\^/^ 

110 

•  u^  y 

100 

r^^""^ 

90 

r^ 

Figure   11, 


L-J    >    I    f   I    I    I    I.I    I    I    I    I    I    i    I    I    i    I    I     I    I    I 

^u       6     8     10     13  14     16  18     30  33     24 


Fig.  II.  Relative  value  of  lo,  20,  40  and  120  minute  periods.  Substitution 
Test.  (Starch,  92a).  The  curves,  from  highest  to  lowest,  respectively,  represent 
results  of  the  10,  20,  40  and  120  minute  periods,  the  results  being  checked  twen- 
ty-four times,  and  at  five-minute  intervals. 

days  were  better  than  sixty-eight  repetitions  in  one  sitting. 
Jost,  using  non-sense  syllables  and  making  experiments  with 
three  divisions  of  time  found  two  repetitions  a  day  for  twelve 
days  best,  four  repetitions  a  day  for  six  days,  next  best,  and 
eight  repetitions  a  day  for  three  days  poorest.  Starch  requir- 
ing the  association  of  letters  with  numbers  and  the  transpos- 
ing of  grouped  numbers  into  prose,  reports  ten  and  twenty 
minute  periods  of  practically  the  same  value,  the  former 
slightly  better.  A  forty  minute  period  considerably  poorer 
than  either  and  a  two  hour  period  poorest.     (See  Fig.  11.) 

Dearborn  (21),  with  the  same  kind  of  material  and  problem, 
found  that  one  ten  minute  period  was  better  than  two  five 
minute  periods  per  day.  Pyle  (80)  has  experimented  with 
adults  in  the  learning  of  alphabet  characters.  He  found  that 
30  minutes  a  day  gave  better  results  than  15,  45,  or  60  minutes. 
He  concludes  that  the  second  practice  on  the  same  day  is  not 
as  valuable  as  the  first,  and  that  after  a  few  practices,  further 
practice  on  the  same  day  is  useless.  In  learning  to  run  the 
t>T)ewriter  the  results  were  somewhat  different.  In  the 
acquisition  of  skill  in  this  experiment  Pyle  found  that  concen- 


126  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

trated  practice, — about  5  practices  the  first  day, — was  econ- 
omical.. Later  on  the  distributed  practice  again  proved  to  be 
most  economical.     (81). 

It  is  generally  dangerous  to  draw  conclusions  from  one  kind 
of  material  to  another.  But  it  appears  that  for  many  kinds  of 
material,  at  least,  fairly  short  periods  are  not  only  economical^ 
but  far  better  than  longer  periods.  Experience  and  experi- 
ment seem  to  show  that  for  the  working  out  of  ideas,  solving 
problems,  writing  essays,  and  the  like,  longer  periods  may  not 
only  be  better  but  that  they  may  be  absolutely  necessary. 

Immediate  and  permanent  retention.  Many  associations. 
The  factors  that  make  for  immediate  retention  for  a  first  ac- 
curate recitation,  for  example,  great  concentration  of  effort 
for  a  short  time,  many  repetitions  during  one  sitting,  do  not 
make  in  the  same  way  for  permanent  retention.  While  a 
thing  may  be  learned  for  immediate  recall  by  great  effort  and 
vividness  of  impression,  psychologists  have  no  two  opinions 
in  regard  to  the  need  for  many  associations  with  the  thing  to 
be  remembered  if  it  is  to  be  long  retained.  That  is  to  say  the 
material  to  be  remembered  for  a  long  time  must  be  assimilat- 
ed, it  must  find  its  place  in  the  thinking  of  the  student.  It  must 
be  gone  over  again  and  again,  and  this  means  time,  and  better 
yet,  distributed  time;  time  divided  into  different  periods  as 
has  just  been  shown. 

It  is  just  this  going  over  day  after  day,  this  using  at  frequent 
intervals  that  makes  permanent  and  sure  the  recall  of  facts 
by  the  teacher,  the  business  man,  the  doctor,  the  man  in  any 
line  of  work.  Constant  use  means  frequent  repetition  and 
many  associations  and  as  a  result  permanent  acquisitions.  If 
one  realizes  the  thousands  of  impressions  made  through  the 
eye  and  ear  and  the  other  senses  in  the  course  of  only  one 
hour,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  extremely  valuable  that  the  in- 
dividual soon  forget  most  of  the  impressions  that  are  made 
only  once.  For  the  course  of  his  thoughts  would  otherwise  be 
continually  disturbed  with  worthless  memories  constantly 
usurping  the  place  of  useful  information  and  relevant  think- 
ing. It  is  again  extremely  valuable  that  the  things  gone  over 
again  and  again  are  the  things  that  become  permanent  for 
these  are  the  things  useful  in  every  day  life. 

Cramming.  Cramming,  it  will  now  be  seen,  becomes  a 
matter  of  making  impressions  which  will  last  only  a  short 
time,  for  the  failure  to  go  over  again  and  again,  to  review  at 
different  periods,  means  a  lack  of  associations,  a  lack  of  as- 


MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION  127 

similation,  and  hence,  a  lack  of  permanency.  Cramming 
therefore  fails  for  retention  that  is  to  last  any  great  length  of 
time.  But  cramming,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  to  be  con- 
demned for  other  purposes.  Some  material  is  valuable  only 
for  a  short  time;  furthermore  some  professions  demand  the 
ability  to  cram;  the  lawyer,  the  public  speaker,  the  business 
man,  the  actor,  all  are  required  to  learn  a  fairly  large  number 
of  facts  at  short  notice;  very  often  this  knowledge  need  not  be 
remembered  for  a  long  time.  The  ability  to  cram  is,  there- 
fore, a  valuable  asset;  this  the  student  soon  learns, — to  his 
delight,  if  he  is  able  to  do  it  well  and  wishes  to  pass  an  exam- 
ination,— to  his  sorrow,  if  he  hopes  to  retain  the  information 
after  the  examination. 

The  student,  then,  must  choose:  either  to  depend  on  cram- 
ming, and  to  find  that,  outside  the  good  or  bad  results  of  the 
examination,  all  that  he  has  left  is  the  ability  to  cram:  or  to 
take  more  time,  to  review  at  different  times,  to  form  the 
necessary  associations  and  have  a  surprising  amount  of  in- 
formation when  he  gets  through.  Cramming  is  after  all 
neither  good  nor  bad,  but  like  almost  everything  else,  it  is 
good  for  some  purposes  and  inadequate  for  others;  the  ability 
to  cram  is  likely  to  be  a  valuable  asset  to  anyone.  It  is  pos- 
sible to  learn  to  cram  for  more  permanent  retention.  The 
determination  to  remember  permanently;  thinking  over  the 
material  as  much  as  possible  and  early  and  frequent  reviews 
make  for  permanent  retention. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  inability  to  recall  immediately  indi- 
cates poor  observation,  imperfect  impressions,  and  the  student 
who  finds  this  kind  of  difliculty  needs  practice  in  observation. 
Inability  to  recall  after  a  lapse  of  time  indicates  a  defect  in 
memory,  and  the  student  here  needs  practice  in  memorizing 
the  kind  of  material  which  he  wishes  to  remember. 

Memor>'  is  no  sure  index  of  general  intelligence;  people  of 
low  intelligence  often  show  astonishing  memories,  and  can 
sometimes  repeat  accurately  without  hesitation  more  than  one 
has  patience  to  hear.  On  the  other  hand  memory  is  funda- 
mental to  reasoning,  inasmuch  as  memor>^  furnishes  the 
material  for  reasoning;  neither  is  great  learning  an  index  of 
ability  to  use  that  knowledge,  and  we  often  find  the  great 
student  unable  to  use  his  knowledge,  whereas  the  man  with 
a  few  facts  and  ability  to  put  them  into  operation,  to  make  the 
-applications,  steps  in  and  achieves  the  success. 

The  rate  of  learning.     The  old  statement  that  quick  learners 


128  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

are  correspondingly  quick  to  forget  has  been  denied;  and 
evidence  has  been  brought  forward  to  show  that  students  who 
learn  fastest  also  remember  the  best;  we  are  told  that  fast 
learners  are  at  no  disadvantage.  It  seems  most  probable  that 
two  types  of  learners  have  been  observed :  one  in  which  learn- 
ing is  fast  and  retention  superior;  another  in  which  the  learn- 
ing is  fast  and  retention  inferior.  There  is  no  room  for  doubt 
that  there  are  fast  and  slow  learners;  in  the  face  of  evidence 
available  during  the  last  few  years  it  must  be  believed  that 
many  fast  learners  remember  as  well  as,  or  better  than,  slow 
learners. 

The  problem  for  any  individual  student  is  to  find  his  own 
best  rate;  and  excepting  those  who  skim  over  their  books  with 
a  superficial  rapidity,  it  is  for  most  p<?ople  true  that  their  rate 
of  study  could  and  should  be  a  little  faster  than  it  generally  is. 
A  little  extra  pressure,  desire  to  beat  the  other  fellow,  some- 
thing that  gets  us  more  solidly  to  work,  frequently  helps  us  ta 
a  speedier  learning  of  a  lesson  which  generally  is  learned 
lazily  and  not  so  well.  The  only  way  to  find  one's  own  best 
rate  of  study  is  to  try  out  different  rates  and  choose  the  rate 
that  gives  the  best  results. 

But  it  is  to  be  understood  that  the  rate  of  learning  at  the 
beginning  of  a  task  is  not  the  rate  which  is  best  later  when 
some  progress  has  been  made.  Understanding  requires  a 
slower  rate  at  first;  accuracy  is  the  essential  in  the  beginning, 
for  the  understanding  of  logical  material,  memorizing,  the 
learning  of  a  skillful  act,  or  what  not.  The  work  should  go 
slowly  enough  for  accuracy;  speed  can  and  should  come  later. 
The  later  study  can  be  faster  and  should  be;  if  as  slow  as  at 
first,  interest  may  lag  and  effort  wane. 

Meumann  considers  the  rate  of  learning  "the  most  universal 
and  fundamental  condition  of  memorial  activity  work  because 
the  tempo  of  learning  determines  the  time  during  which  not 
only  the  single  syllable  remains  in  consciousness  and  is  im- 
printed upon  consciousness,  but  also  the  rapidity  with  which 
the  associations  between  the  several  syllables  are  formed." 
Learning  at  a  very  fast  rate  is  bad;  learning  at  a  very  slow  rate 
is  bad;  there  is  a  loss  either  way,  and  the  student  if  he  is  to  do 
his  best  work  with  the  best  economy  must  find  his  own  best 
rate  of  study,  first  for  the  material  he  is  studying,  second,  for 
the  stage  of  progress  he  has  already  made  with  this  material, 
and  third,  for  the  problem  he  has  before  him,  whether  to 
understand,  to  memorize,  or  to  learn  a  skillful  act. 


MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION  129 

Auditory  learning  is  faster  than  visual  learning;  if  one 
learns  through  the  eye,  one  must  then  expect  to  go  a  bit  slow- 
er, but  there  is  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  visual 
learning  is  more  accurate. 

Regularity  of  application.  The  continual  dropping  of  water 
wears  away  stones;  regular  application  to  a  subject  will  re- 
move mountains.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  twenty 
minutes  a  day  for  a  year  would  be  sufficient  for  a  fair  student 
to  learn  the  fundamentals  of  a  science.  This  means  regu- 
larity, and  it  is  the  regular  application  day  after  day,  week 
after  week,  month  after  month  that  counts.  The  spasmodic 
effort  just  before  an  examination  serves,  perhaps,  for  the  im- 
mediate occasion,  but  for  that  only.  The  superhuman  effort 
for  a  short  time  overtaxes  the  system,  and  gives  only  indiffer- 
ent results  with  a  very  disproportionate  expenditure  of  time 
and  energy. 

The  regular,  systematic,  accomplishment  is  the  true  way  to 
success;  this  is  the  insuring  of  habits,  and  habits,  if  well  form- 
ed, are  as  sure  as  anything  that  a  man  can  rely  upon.  It  is 
because  of  this  regularity  more  than  anything  else  that  men 
awake  suddenly  to  the  realization  of  competency  in  their 
field.  It  is  this  which  brings  mastery;  and  when  it  comes  one 
knows  that  he  has  command  of  that  which  has  thus  been 
practiced  regularly;  it  is  a  part  of  him,  and  remains  a  part  of 
him  as  long  as  his  nervous  system  contiues  to  work  normally. 

Frequency  of  practice.  Is  it  most  economical  to  practice 
for  a  certain  length  of  period  once  a  day,  once  every  other 
day,  twice  a  week,  or  several  times  a  day?  Granted  the  value 
of  regularity,  what  is  the  best  distribution  of  periods?  The 
problem  is  very  important  especially  in  connection  with  the 
determination  of  the  curriculum  for  schools  and  colleges. 
Very  commonly  we  find  students  studying  according  to  either 
one  of  two  plans:  the  five  times  a  week  plan,  or  the  alternate 
day  plan. 

The  study  of  Murphy  (71)  perhaps  sums  up  the  larger  part 
of  our  experimental  information  on  the  subject.  We  have 
spoken  elsewhere  of  the  value  of  distribution  of  periods.  Of 
this  there  is  no  doubt.  We  have  only  begun  to  get  answer  to 
the  question  of  the  best  distribution. 

Murphy  tells  us:  "In  regard  to  periods  of  work  up  to  a  limit 
of  twenty  or  thirty  minutes,  the  conclusion  has  been  reached 
that  one  practice  period  per  day  gives  better  results  than  any 
other  larger  number  per  day.     Lashley   (in  an  unpublished 


130  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

study)  found  in  archery  practice  that  the  group  which  made 
five  shots  per  day  showed  greater  improvement  for  the  same 
number  of  shots  than  those  who  made  twenty  shots  or  forty 
shots  per  day. 

As  yet  no  conclusion  has  been  reached  in  regard  to  the  value 
of  alternate  days'  practice  compared  with  daily  practice. 
Pyle,  from  his  experiments  in  transcribing  reading  matter  into 
new  characters,  concluded  that  daily  practice  is  better  than 
practice  on  alternate  days.  He  had,  however,  only  six  sub- 
jects in  the  test,  and  even  to  this  conclusion,  he  adds  that  after 
the  initial  stages  alternate  days  may  be  better. 

Professor  Leuba  and  Miss  Hyde  of  Bryn  Mawr  have  added 
some  information  to  this  question  in  their  tests  on  "Hand 
Movements."  Their  test  was  to  find  out  the  progress  in  skill 
in  writing  English  prose  in  German  script.  Four  divisions 
were  made  of  their  subjects:  One.  group  working  twice  per 
day,  one  daily,  one  on  alternate  days,  and  another  every  third 
day" ....  there  is  seen  "very  little  difference  between  the  al- 
ternate and  daily  practice  groups,  but  in  comparing  them  with 
other  groups  a  decided  showing  is  found  in  favor  of  the  daily 
and  alternate  day  groups.  One  defect  in  this  comparison  is 
the  short  length  of  the  curve.  The  indications  are  that  with 
further  practice  the  alternate  group  would  compare  yet  more 

favorably at  the  end  of  the  tenth  trial  the  group  working 

on  alternate  days  was  superior." 

Professor  Murphy  gives  the  result  of  his  own  experiments  in 
javelin  throwing.  Three  groups  of  Normal  School  girls  using 
the  left  hand,  practised  throwing  the  javelin;  one  group  throw- 
ing five  times  a  week,  another  three  times  a  week,  the  third 
once  a  week.  Some  attention  was  also  given  to  twice  a  day 
practice.  Professor  Murphy  states  in  conclusion  that,  "From 
a  study  of  the  results  of  the  above  experiment,  and  from  a 
careful  study  of  the  attitude  of  those  throwing  the  javelin,  we 
conclude  that  learning  periods  can  be  distributed  by  giving 
alternate  days  practice,  and  even  weekly  practice,  without  any 
loss  in  learning.  We  believe  this  to  be  a  conservative  state- 
ment not  only  for  practice  periods  involving  skill  or  hand 
manipulation  but  also  for  so-called  mental  work.  We  believe 
we  are  justified  in  stating  that  better  work,  for  the  amount  of 
time  expended,  can  be  done  in  our  schools  through  a  distribu- 
tion of  three  times  per  week  than  through  a  distribution  of 
five  times  per  week." 

While  there  is  apparently  considerable  economy  in  relative- 


MEMORIES   AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION  131 

ly  longer  intervals  between  practice  periods,  it  is  perhaps  wise 
to  await  further  study  and  to  be  especially  careful  about  gen- 
eralizing from  one  kind  of  learning  to  another. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  Explain  how  the  old  view  of  "memory"  is  supplanted  by 
the  modern  view  of  "momories."  Give  reasons  for  this  change 
of  view. 

2.  How  may  the  "storehouse"  idea  of  memory  be  mislead- 
ing?    In  what  sense  may  it  be  correct? 

3.  "The  nervous  modification  which  we  have  here  named 
'impression'  is,  clearly,  the  first  term  in  the  series  of  nervous 
changes  which  condition  the  process  of  learning."  Discuss 
this  statement  and  show  how  much  that  we  have  said  in  earlier 
chapters  is  significant  for  the  permanence  of  retention. 

4.  "The  conditions  of  impression  are  also  the  conditions  of 
association."  Can  we  conclude  from  this  fact  that  we  should 
try  to  make  the  conditions  of  learning  as  nearly  as  possible 
the  same  as  the  conditions  that  will  be  present  when  we  want 
to  recall? 

5.  Make  a  list  of  the  factors  that  you  consider  most  valu- 
able in  the  school  room  for  the  purpose  of  helping  students  to 
retain  what  they  study. 

6.  Show  how  you  could  make  use  of  several  of  these  factors 
in  presenting  something  to  a  class.  Choose  the  subject  and 
the  factors  you  would  use  and  show  how  you  would  use  them. 

7.  State  Jost's  law  and  show  its  significance  for  memorizing. 

8.  What  can  you  say  as  to  the  value  of  reviews?  Are  they 
valuable  for  short  as  well  as  for  voluminous  material? 

9.  Discuss  the  relative  values  of  different  lengths  of  time 
for  the  learning  of  lessons. 

10.  For  what  is  cramming  good?  For  what  is  it  bad? 
Explain. 

11.  What  can  you  say  as  to  the  frequency  of  study?  Should 
subjects  be  studied  twice  a  day,  once  a  day,  every  other  day, 
or  every  three  days? 

REFERENCES. 

Ebbinghaus,  H.  Memory.  Tr.  by  Rugcr,  1913,  Teachers  College, 
Columbia  University. 

Meumann,  E.  The  Psychology  of  Learning.  Tr.  by  Baird.  D.  Ap- 
pleton  and  Co.,  1910. 

Thorndike,  E.  L.  Educational  Psychology.  Vol.  2.  The  Psychol- 
ogy of  Learning.  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  1913,  Ch.  10. 
Also  Briefer  Course,  1915,  Ch.  17. 

Watt,  IL  h  The  Economy  and  Training  of  the  Memory.  Long- 
mans, Green  and  Co.,  1910. 


Chapter  11. 
MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION. 

(concluded) 

The  nature  of  material.  The  nature  of  material  and  its 
organization  or  lack  of  organization  make  an  immense  dif- 
ference in  learning  and  in  retaining.  Organization  is  im- 
mensely valuable  both  for  mastery  and  for  subsequent  re- 
call. A  speaker  finds  it  easy  to  remember  his  address  if  he 
has  organized  it  logically;  the  audience  finds  that  such  a 
talk  can  be  reported  with  comparative  ease;  but  let  it  be  put 
together  in  a  disorderly  way  and  both  speaker  and  hearers 
find  proportionate  difliculty  in  remembering  even  the  main 
ideas.  The  teacher  who  can  lecture  hour  after  hour  with 
comparatively  little  dependence  on  notes  owes  his  readiness 
of  recall  very  largely  to  the  fact  that  the  ideas  have  been 
organized.  When  one  has  this  organization  of  a  science  in 
mind,  whatever  he  studies  finds  its  appropriate  place  in  his 
system  of  thought,  and  is  so  much  the  more  likely  to  be 
remembered. 

It  follows  for  the  student,  then,  that  if  the  material  which 
he  studies  is  not  properly  organized,  he  should  organize  it 
for  himself.  It  is  conceivable  that  the  organization  of  ma- 
terial could  be  done  by  a  few  very  good  students  without 
written  notes;  but  this  method  is  bound  to  fail  in  many 
details  if  not  with  many  of  the  main  thoughts;  this  is  es- 
pecially true  of  things  learned  through  lecture.  If  one  can 
listen  to  a  lecture,  understand  it,  and  afterwards  find  what 
he  is  unable  to  remember  in  a  textbook  sufficiently  well 
organized,  it  is  probably  the  best  way  to  do.  But  the  essen- 
tial thing  is  to  have  the  material  organized  and  to  have  it  so 
that  it  can  be  reviewed.  Once  going  over  a  thing  is  not 
sufficient. 
'  Topical  study.  Topical  study  and  topical  organization  are 
undoubtedly  the  best;  know  first  the  general  subject,  next  the 
first  main  thought  and  the  subheads  under  it  with  illustrations; 
then  the  next  main  thought  and  the  subheads  and  illustrations 
under  each,  and  so  on.  The  subheads  may  be  arguments  for 
or  against,  examples,  explanations,  applications,  or  whatever 

132 


MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION  133 

else  belongs  with  that  main  thought.  We  think  by  topics,  we 
use,  answer  questions,  solve  problems,  index  our  knowledge 
by  topics;  and  for  all  these  purposes  and  in  practically  all  cir- 
cumstances the  topical  method  of  study  and  of  organization 
is  best. 

Light  from  later  chapters.  It  is  obvious  that  some  material 
can  be  mastered  as  one  goes  along  and  that  other  material  is 
so  difficult  that  one  .finds  it  either  very  hard  or  impossible  to 
master  in  this  way.  For  skillful  acts,  habits  need  to  be  made 
thoroughly  before  higher  habits,  that  is,  habits  dependent  upon 
the  fundamental  habits,  can  be  made  economically.  On  the 
other  hand,  common  experience  shows  that  what  is  not  under- 
stood or  well  remembered  may  be  cleared  up  and  easily  fixed 
in  memory  when  later  paragraphs  are  read,  or  after  later 
chapters  are  studied:  later  statements  throw  light  on  earlier 
ones. 

It  is  a  common  experience  for  students  to  find  on  review 
for  examination  that  many  parts  of  a  course  which  were  not 
at  all  clear  earlier  become  perfectly  clear  through  the  review, 
and  furthermore,  the  different  facts  find  their  proper  place, 
appear  in  the  true  perspective  in  the  student's  mind.  To  go 
ahead  and  get  light  and  then  to  review  is,  with  much  meaning- 
ful material,  often  the  thing  to  do.  This  suggests  naturally 
enough  the  problem  of  learning  by  the  whole  or  part  or  by 
some  other  method,  and  the  further  problem  of  the  size  or 
amount  of  the  units  to  be  learned  at  any  one  time. 

The  whole  versus  the  part  method.  Experiments  give  us 
considerable  evidence  in  connection  with  the  first  question. 
The  most  common  way  to  learn  a  poem  or  a  speech  is  to  learn 
a  part,  then  another  part,  and  so  forth,  until  the  entire  poem 
or  speech  is  learned.  The  results  of  experiments  show  that  in 
comparison  with  the  method  of  learning  by  going  from  be- 
ginning to  end  and  repeating  the  process  till  the  learning  is 
complete,  learning  by  parts  is  wasteful  of  time  and  energy. 
Learning  by  wholes  is  more  economical  than  learning  by 
parts.  The  possible  exception  to  this  rule  is  found  with  non- 
sense syllables  which  have  been  used  in  experiments;  there  is 
little  or  none  of  this  kind  of  memorizing  in  real  life  however, 
and  furthermore,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  a  modification 
of  the  whole  method  is  best  even  with  this  kind  of  material. 

Meumann  has  reported  the  results  of  his  own  experiments 
and  of  the  experiments  of  others.  The  results,  in  which  there 
is  general  agreement,  are  as  follows:  "For  adults  and  children 


134  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

it  is  more  advantageous  and  it  is  psychologically  and  pedagog- 
ically  more  appropriate  to  learn  every  sort  of  material  as  a 
whole  than  to  break  it  up  into  parts:" — "If,  for  example,  an 
observer  remembers  thirty  percent  of  a  poem  which  he  learn- 
ed three  months  ago  by  the  whole  procedure,  he  would  be 
found  to  have  forgotten  almost  the  whole  of  it  during  the  same 
interval  if  he  had  learned  it  by  the  part  procedure.  Indeed, 
it  sometimes  happened,  it  is  true,  that  stanzas  which  had  been 
learned  by  the  whole  procedure  required  more  repetitions  on 
relearning  than  stanzas  learned  by  the  part  procedure;  but, 
even  in  those  cases,  the  former  stanzas  were  remembered  es- 
sentially better  than  the  latter.  Hence,  the  whole  method  again 
proves  to  be  more  advantageous  in  so  far  as  retention  for 
longer  periods  of  time  is  concerned." 

Again  he  writes:  "I  have  discovered  that  the  whole  pro- 
cedure is  advantageous  not  only  in  the  laboratory  but  in 
practice,  for  teachers  of  my  acquaintance  have  submitted  it  to 
a  thorough  test  in  their  schools.  Let  the  children  see  how 
wholly  different  is  their  concentration  of  attention  when  they 
learn  by  means  of  the  whole  method  or  by  one  of  the  mediating 
methods,  and  how,  in  employing  the  part  method  as  they  or- 
dinarily do,  they  waste  an  extravagant  number  or  repetitions 
on  the  first  few  lines  of  a  stanza  of  poetry  and  neglect  the  other 
lines."  (68).  The  conclusions  stated  above  were  based  on 
studies  of  memorizing  non-sense  syllables  and  poetry. 

Miss  Lakenan  compared  the  whole  and  part  methods  in 
connection  with  both  prose  and  poetry.  She  writes:  "For 
memorizing  poetry,  the  whole  method  is,  in  general,  more 
economical  than  the  part  method.  In  cases  where  the  part 
method  was  of  advantage  for  the  first  learning,  the  percentage 
retained  after  a  number  of  months  was  greater  for  material 
learned  by  the  whole  method  than  for  that  learned  by  the  part 
method;  prose  is  more  readily  learned  and  better  retained  by 
means  of  the  whole  method  than  by  the  part;  for  both  poetry 
and  prose  there  is  an  increase  in  effectiveness  of  the  whole 
method  with  increase  in  the  length  of  the  selection  to  be  learn- 
ed, up  to  36  lines  of  poetry  and  300  words  of  prose,  which  were 

the  limits  of  the  experiments most  children  tested  found 

the  whole  method  of  advantage  for  the  first  learning."     (56). 

Reasons  offered  in  explanation  of  the  advantage  of  the 
whole  method  are  numerous:  better  distribution  of  attention 
and  effort;  realization  of  meaning  of  the  whole;  conseauent 
better  interest  and  sustained  effort;  avoidance  of  transition 


MEMORIES   AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION  135 

from  one  section  to  another  and  the  final  putting  them  all 
together;  having  parts  in  right  order  and  position  from  the 
beginning,  and  thus  learning  cues  for  succeeding  parts  from 
the  outset;  aid  given  by  total  impression. 

Modification  of  the  whole  method.  What  Meumann  calls 
the  "mediating"  method  is  a  modification  of  the  whole  method. 
For  example,  a  language  vocabulary  exercise  is  to  be  learned; 
the  student  goes  through  it  from  start  to  finish  as  required  by 
the  whole  method;  but  he  notes  or  marks  the  hard  places  and 
as  he  goes  over  the  exercise  in  the  following  repetitions  he 
allows  the  mind  to  dwell  longer  on  the  hard  parts.  This  ob- 
viously combines  the  further  factor  of  duration  of  impression. 
The  term  "mediating"  is  not  sufficiently  descriptive  of  the 
method  designated:  the  expression,  emphasizing  whole 
method,  is  at  least  more  definite  and  might  perhaps  be  most 
useful. 

Another  modification  of  method  is  in  the  combination  of  the 
whole  and  part  methods;  this  allows  for  individual  differences. 
It  has  been  used  most  successfully  with  school  children.  The 
material  is  first  studied  by  the  whole  method;  then  the  hard 
parts  are  studied  by  the  part  method;  finally  the  entire  matter 
is  gone  over  by  the  whole  method  again.  This  also  permits 
greater  attention  and  the  expenditure  of  more  time  and  energy 
on  the  hard  parts  and  proves  to  be  most  successful  and  econ- 
omical in  many  situations. 

Si::e  of  units.  As  to  the  size  of  units,  the  amount  of  material 
to  be  studied  by  the  whole  method  or  by  any  other  method, 
only  partial  answer  has  been  given  by  psychological  experi- 
ments. The  results  seem  to  differ  with  practised  and  unprac- 
tised observers.  Ebbinghaus  found  that  with  unpractised 
observers  larger  amounts  of  material  required  a  dispropor- 
tionately large  number  of  repetitions.  With  practised  observ- 
ers an  increase  in  the  amount  to  learn  does  not  require  a  pro- 
portionate increase  in  the  number  of  repetitions  needed  for 
learning.  The  conclusion  seems  to  be  that  for  unpractised 
observers  or  learners,  shorter  units,  and  for  better  trained 
students  longer  units,  are  best. 

Meumann  states  on  the  basis  of  work  done  in  his  laboratory 
that  "the  task  assigned  for  a  siuj^le  period  must  be  as  great  as 
the  capacity  of  the  learner  permits."  (69).  In  defense  of  this 
he  reports  the  following  facts:  syllables  may  be  learned  with 
p  certain  number  of  repetitions,  as  for  example,  8  in  5.2  repe- 
titions; 12  in  10.4;  16  in  17;  18  in  21.5;  24  in  30;  36  in  32.5  repe- 
titions. 


136  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

Miss  Lakenan  reports:  "In  learning  prose  by  the  whole 
method,  fewer  repetitions  are  required  for  learning  a  300  word 
selection  than  for  learning  a  100  or  200  word  selection,  while 
in  learning  prose  by  the  part  method  there  is  a  slight  increase 
in  the  number  of  repetitions  required  with  increase  in  the 
length  of  selection  to  be  learned.  In  memorizing  poetry,  36 
lines  require  fewer  repetitions  for  learning  than  do  18  lines, 
when  the  whole  method  is  used.  When  the  part  method  is 
used,  there  is  an  increase  in  the  number  of  repetitions  requir- 
ed for  learning  with  increase  in  the  length  of  the  selections  to 
be  learned,  with  one  exception, — 36  lines  require  fewer  repe- 
titions than  do  27  lines."     (57). 

Henmon  found  similarly  with  meaningful  material  that  an 
increase  in  amount  of  material  did  not  require  a  proportional 
increase  in  the  number  of  repetitions.  It  is  probable,  there- 
fore, that  economy  is  to  be  found  in  taking  a  fairly  long  task 
rather  than  a  shorter  one;  just  how  long,  psychologists  are  not 
ready  to  say;  further  experiments  must  be  made;  and  when 
they  are  made,  individual  differences  will  probably  make  it 
very  much  an  individual  problem  still;  better  students  will 
find  it  economical  to  take  longer  amounts  while  poorer  stud- 
ents will  find  it  advisable  to  take  smaller  amounts  to  study  at 
one  time.  Experience  tells  part  of  this,  as,  for  example,  the 
division  of  a  play  into  acts  is  found  to  be  the  best. 

In  this  connection  Meumann  writes:  "The  slow  increase  in 
number  of  repetitions  with  increase  in  amount  of  material 
reveals  the  presence  of  a  fact  of  will,  and  also  perhaps  of  an 
attitude  or  adjustment,  which  may  be  described  by  the  state- 
ment that  the  expenditure  of  energy  is  regulated  automatically 
to  conform  with  the  magnitude  of  the  achievement  which  is 
demanded  of  the  learner.  It  is  a  matter  of  every-day  obser- 
vation that  our  task  progresses  more  readily  when  we  make 
it  part  of  a  larger  task  than  when  we  set  about  it  independent- 
ly. Our  awareness  of  the  fact  that  the  task  is  large  leads  us 
unconsciously  and  involuntarily  to  a  keener  and  more  effec- 
tive concentration  of  our  energies.  I  have  found  this  phenom- 
enon to  occur  in  learning,  in  the  work-curve,  and  even  in 
ergographic  experiments,  so  that  I  am  led  to  suppose  that  it 
may  be  a  universal  law  of  will'* 

Size  of  units  and  the  length  of  assignments.  The  topical 
method  of  study  and  of  assigning  lessons  permits  of  a  solution 
to  this  problem.  A  topic  or  several  topics  are  assigned.  All 
students  must  learn  a  certain  minimum  about  each  topic.    The 


MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION  137 

better  students  are  credited  for  all  they  learn  in  addition. 
Credit  is  also  given  for  quality  of  work.  Obviously  the  pro- 
cedure requires  a  careful  organization  of  the  course.  But  no 
teacher  should  attempt  to  teach  a  course  if  it  has  not  been 
well  organized. 

Order  of  learning.  Order  of  learning  is  akin  to  organization 
of  material.  The  order  of  studying  facts  in  a  subject  in  a 
course  in  school  or  college,  gives  the  basis  for  the  organization 
of  all  the  facts  learned;  on  the  basis  of  such  order  of  learning 
and  organization  the  material  is  most  easily  learned  and  best 
remembered.  In  physics,  for  example,  it  is  likely  that  the 
fundamental  matters  of  time,  space  and  mass  should  be 
studied  first;  then  the  phenomena  arising  from  the  combin- 
ation of  two  of  these;  then  the  phenomena  arising  from  the 
combination  of  all  three;  and,  finally,  the  more  complex 
phenomena  which  can  be  properly  understood  on  the  basis  of 
these  facts.  This  ordering  of  materials,  the  presentation  of 
facts  in  the  best  sequence,  is  the  problem  of  the  teacher  and  of 
the  author  of  the  text-book;  but  the  student  should  expect  to 
find  such  presentation  from  the  teacher  and  from  the  text- 
book. 

Silent  learning  versus  learning  aloud.  Is  it  more  economic 
to  study  silently  or  aloud?  Dumville  and  Lewis  (23)  report 
that  they  found  the  silent  method  better  for  groups  of  child- 
ren who  learned  poetr>'  by  the  "entire"  method.  The  groups 
using  the  silent  method  not  only  did  better  in  reproduction 
but  the  individuals,  evidently  without  exception  liked  the 
silent  method  better. 

Pintner  and  Gilliland  (82)  report  that  groups  which  they 
studied  showed  better  results  when  using  the  silent  method. 
(See  figure  1).  Mead  (61)  reports  that  fifteen  out  of  seventeen 
classes  did  better  in  reading  by  the  silent  method.  Seventy 
percent  of  the  children,  aged  9.2  to  16  years,  taken  separately 
did  better  by  this  method. 

Explanations  offered  indicate  that  the  silent  method  is  con- 
sidered to  allow  better  exercise  of  individual  differences  in 
such  things  as  rate  of  learning,  span  of  apprehension,  differ- 
ence in  understanding  words,  kinds  of  associations,  type  of 
imagery,  and  that  there  is  less  distraction  and  better  attention 
when  this  method  is  used. 

We  have  yet  to  learn  if  a  combination  of  the  two  methods 
would  not  give  the  best  results.  Dumville  and  Lewis  think 
that  the  combination  of  a  little  concerted  learning  and  the  rest 


138  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

and  by  far  the  most  of  silent  learning  would  in  common  prac- 
tice in  schools  give  the  best  results. 

The  attitude  of  the  student.  When  all  is  said  the  fact  re- 
mains that  all  progress  in  learning  depends  on  the  activity  of 
the  student;  and  it  depends  on  the  text  or  the  teacher  only  so 
far  as  the  text  or  the  teacher  arouses  this  activity  of  the  stud- 
ent. Ultimately  all  education  depends  on  the  activity  of  the 
learner,  and  the  school  or  college  can  only  arouse  and  help  to 
direct  this  activity  and  make  it  economic.  The  teacher  can 
offer  the  stimulus,  the  incentive.  The  attitude,  the  condition 
of  the  student,  the  way  he  goes  to  work,  determine  what  he 
shall  learn.  In  the  field  of  memory  the  old  illustration  is 
pertinent.  A  baggageman  delivered  a  trunk  to  the  wrong 
address  while  drunk  and  was  unable  to  recall  the  place  where 
he  had  left  the  trunk  until  he  was  again  drunk.  The  point  is 
that  the  conditions  of  learning  are  also  the  conditions  of  re- 
call. The  student  should  realize  then  that  he  should  put  him- 
self in  the  same  attitude  when  studying  in  which  he  will  find 
himself  when  trying  to  recall;  this  means  among  other  things, 
something  of  the  aggressive  attitude. 

Artificial  systems  and  devices '.Mnemonics.  The  majority 
of  students,  teachers,  business  and  professional  men  find  that 
the  logical  organization  and  the  continual  use  of  their  subject 
matter  are  not  only  sufficient  for  remembering  their  material 
but  that  these  means  are  the  most  satisfactory;  on  the  other 
hand,  men  with  excellent  memories  find  aid  in  the  use  of  ar- 
tificial systems  or  devices,  in  mnemonic  systems  or  mnemonic 
devices.  The  railway  postal  clerk  who  has  to  memorize  all 
the  post-offices  in  three  states,  looks  in  vain  for  logical  con- 
nection with  such  incorrigible  material  and  rightly  seeks  aid 
in  mnemonics. 

We  have,  in  the  first  place,  to  recognize  the  fact  that  people 
for  the  most  part  do  not  make  their  memories  serve  them  as 
they  might;  case  after  case  could  be  cited  of  people  who  com- 
plained of  poor  memories,  but  found  that  a  little  demand  in 
the  way  of  practice  revealed  good  or  excellent  memories.  In 
the  second  place,  people  commonly  hold  to  the  notion  that 
they  can  practise  on  one  kind  of  material  and  as  a  result  be 
better  able  to  remember  other  kinds  of  material;  failing  in  this 
they  feel  the  need  of  an  artificial  cure-all.  And,  in  the  third 
place,  the  flight  to  an  artificial  system  is  a  flight  to  a  means  of 
interpolating  into  the  material  to  be  learned  the  logical  or 
other  associations  which  the  student  should  find  within  nearly 


MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION  139 

all  kinds  of  material  itself.  The  justification  of  a  mnemonic, 
therefore,  so  far  as  it  can  be  justified  at  all,  lies  in  its  interpol- 
ating some  kind  of  helpful  association  where  there  is  none  in 
the  material  itself. 

Disadvantages  of  mnemonics.  This  bringing  in  of  some 
kind  of  association  into  discrete,  incorrigible  material  is  the 
advantage  of  mnemonics,  and  constitutes,  so  far  as  the  author 
can  see,  its  only  defense.  And  the  disadvantages  are  many. 
The  logic  that  is  used  is  often  bad  logic;  one  uses  poor  logic 
enough  without  training  in  its  use;  the  system  is  of  little  use 
unless  it  is  fully  mastered  and  continually  used;  this  is  likely 
to  mean  overuse,  that  is,  use  where  it  should  not  be  resorted 
to,  and  therefore,  a  tendency  away  from  relying  on  native 
memory  and  making  it  serve  one  as  it  should.  It  is  obvious, 
too,  that  reliance  on  an  artificial  system  may  postpone  or  even 
eliminate  the  discover>^  of  logical  relations  within  the  material 
to  be  learned  which  the  student  should  find  if  he  is  to  have  any 
mastery  of  his  subject. 

Furthermore  any  recall  through  the  medium  of  mnemonics 
is  slower  because  of  the  additional  associations  involved,  and 
is  correct  only  if  the  system  has  been  used  correctly.  The 
mind  has  all  this  time  of  course  the  burden  of  the  additional 
auxiliary  ideas  demanded  by  the  system.  The  enthusiast  is 
likely  to  overuse  such  a  system  at  first;  later  to  become  dissat- 
isfied with  it  and  to  find  it  more  a  burden  than  a  help. 

At  best  mnemonics  is  only  an  aid  to  memory  and  should 
never  be  substituted  for  ordinary  memorizing;  it  should  never 
be  used  except  to  supplement,  and  then  only  for  material 
which  cannot  be  dealt  with  in  a  better  way.  Its  true  use  is, 
then,  with  very  difiicult  discrete  material  and  only  as  an  oc- 
casional supplementary  aid.  The  little  mnemonic  devices 
arranged  by  teachers  perform  this  ofiice. 

Habit  or  logic  in  language.  Rules  for  correct  pronunciation 
and  for  the  correct  use  of  language  are  a  sort  of  logical  method 
of  dealing  with  language;  and  the  teacher  should  learn  once 
for  all  that  knowledi^o  of  rules  does  not  make  much  difference 
with  the  actual  performance.  A  person  speaks  and  writes 
correctly  because  he  has  heard  and  read  and  been  called  upon 
to  use  correct  language.  The  direct  method  of  teaching  lan- 
guages recognizes  this  fact.  Elxperimental  pedago^  has 
shown  us  how  little  the  knowledge  of  rules  has  to  do  with  the 
correct  use  of  language;  (85)  and  experience  tells  us  that 
children  can  learn  several  languages  if  people  around  them 


140 


PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 


use  those  languages.  It  is  fairly  safe  to  say  that  no  one  but  a 
teacher  and  he  very  seldom  thinks  of  a  rule  or  makes  any  ap- 
plication of  a  rule  in  the  use  of  language.  "Grammar,"  ac- 
cording to  the  recent  report  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education, 
(32),  "receives  altogether  too  much  time  and  is  taught  too  in- 
tensively and  too  analytically." 

Forgetting.  The  facts  of  forgetting  are  very  complex  and 
confusing.  Few  generalizations  can  be  made  that  apply  to 
different  kinds  of  material.  The  rate  of  forgetting  and  its  ex- 
tent differ  as  the  material  as  well  as  the  conditions  of  learning 
differ.  It  may  be  safe  to  say,  however,  that  forgetting  is  at 
first  very  rapid  and  that  this  decreases  as  time  goes  on.  In 
some  kinds  of  learning  at  least  one  retains  or  is  able  to  repro- 
duce more  at  the  end  of  twenty-four  than  at  the  end  of  eight 
hours  after  learning. 

100^ 


80 


60 


40 


20 


Figure   12, 


1 
Days 


6 


14 


30 


Fig.  12.  The  rate  of  forgetting  non-sense  syllables.  Results  from  a  study  of 
27  observers.  The  curve  is  drawn  from  results  given  by  Radossawljewitsch. 
See  table  in  E.  Meumann.    The  Psychology  of  Learning,  333. 


The  study  of  Radossawljewitsch  is  probably  as  representa- 
tive as  any  for  the  rate  of  forgetting  non-sense  syllables.  These 
were  learned  by  27  observers  until  they  could  reproduce  them 
twice  without  error.  The  average  results  are  as  follows:  2.5 
per  cent  were  forgotten  in  5  minutes;  11.4  per  cent  in  20  min- 
utes; 29.3  per  cent  in  60  minutes;  52.6  per  cent  in  8  hours;  32.2 


MEMORIES  AND  THE  PERMANENCE  OF  ACQUISITION 


141 


per  cent  in  i  day:  39,1  per  cent  in  2  days;  50.7  per  cent  in  6 
days;  59  per  cent  in  14  days;  62.2  per  cent  in  21  days;  79.8  per 
cent  in  30  days;  97.2  per  cent  in  120  days.  This  is  made  clear- 
trr  by  the  accompanying  curve  (Figure  12). 


/OOdfo 

8o 

\                    Figure   13. 

60 

^0 

— 

zo 

o 

1 1 1 1 

t 1 

/o 


^o 


30. 


Oa. 


y^ 


Fig.  13.     "The  approximate  curve  of  forgetting  for  poetry  learned  to  the  point 
of   two    successful    reproductions.     Drawn    from   data   of   Radossawljewitsch. 

(Thorndike)." 

The  forgetting  of  poetry  seems  to  follow  another  curve,  and 
this  is  represented  in  the  second  figune  which  again  shows  the 
faster  forgetting  at  first  and  slower  later.     (Figure  13). 

Permanence  and  the  kind  of  learning.  Some  of  our  acquisi- 
tions are  without  doubt  much  more  permanent  than  others. 
Some  are  no  doubt  more  likely  to  be  permanent  because  of  the 
nature  of  the  learning  or  of  the  nature  of  the  thing  learned,  or 
for  both  reasons.  Thorndike  makes  the  following  statement 
in  The  Psychology  of  Learning:  "It  is  perhaps  the  case  that 
functions  whose  improvement  consists  in  responding  more 
surely/ and  more  quickly  by  some  movements  of  the  muscles 
to  some  sense  presentations  with  which  the  former  are  to  be 
bound  with  few  intermediaries,  retain  their  improvement 
better  than  functions  where  the  surety  and  speed  of  bonds 
from  one  internally  initiated  event  in  the  brain  to  another  are 
the  main  facts  to  be  improved.  Skating,  dancing,  swimming, 
typewriting  in  an  advanced  stage,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  re- 
cital of  poems,  or  nonsense  series,  knowledge  of  chemistry  or 
geolog\%  the  ability  to  translate  English  into  German,  and  type- 
writing at  the  beginning,  on  the  other,  illustrate  and  suggest 
this  contrast. 

"It  is  possible  that  the  secondary  or  so-called  higher  con- 
nections in  the  nervous  system  which  correspond  to  the  asso- 


142  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

elation  of  'ideas'  are  fundamentally  less  retentive  of  modifi- 
cation produced  in  them  by  learning  than  are  the  more  prim- 
ary and  direct  neural  bonds  which  correspond  to  the  associa- 
tion of  senory  situation  and  motor  response.  Knowledge  may 
be  by  the  nature  of  man's  neurones  less  retainable  than  skill. 
Roughly,  as  a  matter  of  general  observation,  it  seems  to  be." 
(110).      , 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  Explain  why  the  organization  of  material  is  very  im- 
portant. 

2.  Many  students  say  that  they  could  never  study  by  the 
whole  method.  What  facts  are  there  to  indicate  that  they 
should  study  by  the  whole  method? 

3.  How  would  you  modify  the  whole  method  for  group 
study? 

4.  "The  task  assigned  for  a  single  period  must  be  as  great 
as  the  capacity  of  the  learner  permits."  What  is  the  reason 
for  this  and  why  is  too  short  a  task  an  evil? 

5.  Choose  several  subjects  and  thinking  of  the  age  of  the 
students,  how  large  units  would  you  have  to  be  studied  by  the 
whole  method? 

6.  What  two  kinds  of  reading  must  children  learn?  Which 
is  more  important  and  more  used  in  adult  life? 

7.  What  has  the  attitude  of  the  student  to  do  with  learning? 
Cite  some  examples. 

8.  Distinguish  between  mnemonic  systems  and  mnemonic 
devices  and  indicate  the  probable  value  of  each. 

9.  What  general  laws  of  forgetting  can  you  mention  and 
what  can  the  teacher  do  to  help  pupils  with  the  problem  of 
forgetting? 

10.  Make  three  lists  of  five  subjects  each  which  shall  show, 
1)  subjects  in  which  there  must  be  the  most  effort  to  bring 
about  permanent  retention,  2)  subjects  requiring  the  least 
effort,  and  3)  subjects  requiring  intermediate  amounts  of 
effort.     Can  you  find  any  general  principle  involved? 

REFERENCES. 

Ebbinghaus,  H.  Memory,  Tr.  by  Ruger,  1913.  Teachers  College 
Columbia  University. 

Meumann,  E.  The  Psi/chology  of  Learning.  Tr.  by  Baird.  D.  Ap- 
pleton  and  Co.,  1910. 

Thorndike,  E.  L.  Educational  Psychology,  Vol.  2.  The  Psychology 
of  Learning.  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  1913.  Ch.  10. 
Briefer  Course,  1915.  Ch.  17. 

Watt,  H.  .T.  The  Economy  and  Training  of  the  Memory.  Longman's 
Green  and  Co.,  1910. 


Chapter  12 
MAKING  THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  STUDENT. 

The  release  of  energy,  f  One  of  the  most  conspicuous  char- 
acteristics of  the  living  organism  is  that  it  responds  to  stimuli 
in  a  vastly  different  way  than  do  inanimate  objects!^  A  billiard 
ball  responds,  if  the  term  be  permitted  in  this  case,  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  amount  of  stimulus.  The  response  of  a  liv- 
ing organism,  and  especially  of  the  human  organism,  is  likely 
to  be  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  strength  of  the  stimulus.  The 
response  is  more  nearly  similar  to  the  action  of  gunpowder, 
or  of  a  coiled  spring  when  the  energy  is  suddenly  released. 
The  analogy  is  inadequate.  The  response  of  the  organism 
may  be  varied  and  the  extent  of  the  reaction  impossible  to 
calculate  beforehand.  But  the  analogy  holds  in  one  respect. 
/The  response  of  the  organism  is  determined  both  by  the  stim- 
Culus  and  by  the  inherent  tendencies  to  respond.  ^  Instinctive 
and  acquired  dispositions,  which  are  many  andi^varied,  are 
necessary  to  account  for  the  many  and  extensive  responses  of 
the  organism.  Also,  and  especially  in  the  human  being,  the 
problem  is  complicated  by  the  inhibitions  which  may  limit  or 
entirely  hinder  any  response  at  all. 

The  present  and  following  chapters  (chapters  12  and  13) 
will  deal  with  the  means  of  arousing  the  desirable  activities 
on  the  part  of  the  student.  In  the  present  chapter  we  shall 
emphasize  the  instinctive  and  emotional  side  of  the  matter. 
In  the  following  chapter  we  shall  emphasize  the  matter  of  at- 
tention and  sustained  effort.  ^ 

The  teacher  s  work  is  to  arouse  and  to  direct/  If  these  in- 
herent tendencies  in  the  student  were  absent  the  process  of 
education  would  never  even  get  started.)  No  difficult  case  in 
my  own  teaching  experience  ever  arouseii  so  deep  an  interest 
in  me  as  one  in  which  these  feelings  and  tendencies  seemed 
to  be  as  nearly  missing  as  they  could  be  in  a  human  being. 
The  young  man  in  question  had  no  apparent  interest  in  any- 
tliing.  He  made  no  progress  in  his  studying.  In  fact,  so  far 
as  I  knew,  he  did  little  more  than  to  take  an  attitude  of  study 
at  rare  intervals.  I  asked  him  if  he  did  not  want  to  keep  up 
with  his  class;  he  said  that  he  did  not  care.     I  inquired  if  he 

143 


144  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

did  not  care  what  his  teachers  thought  about  his  work;  he  said 
that  it  did  not  matter.  Did  he  not  care  what  the  fellows 
thought;  it  made  no  difference  what  they  thought.  Was  he 
not  interested  in  any  study  or  work;  no,  not  at  all.  My  own 
interest  in  him  and  in  his  work  seemed  to  arouse  none  in  him. 
Nothing  mattered.  There  seemed  to  be  nothing  to  appeal  to. 
One  day  I  invited  him  to  spend  the  afternoon  with  me.  I 
took  him  to  lunch  and  then  through  a  part  of  the  University 
which  he  had  not  seen,  and  we  finished  the  day  by  seeing  part 
of  a  base-ball  game.  From  that  time  he  was  interested  and 
eager  to  do  anything  I  asked.  The  authorities  had  just  order- 
ed him  to  a  school  for  delinquents  because  he  had  trouble  with 
all  his  teachers;  but  he  obtained  permission  to  come  and  work 
for  me  part  of  each  week.  The  secret  was  that  he  had  been 
punished,  pounded,  maltreated  at  home  and  at  school  until  he 
was  callous  to  all  appeals  that  had  formerly  been  made.  Now 
he  did  care  and  he  worked  well,  as  well,  indeed,  as  any  of  my 
pupils.  The  point  is :  he  began  to  care.  The  tendencies  with- 
in us  that  make  us  care  and  rouse  us  to  do  are  the  all  import- 
ant, yes,  the  absolute  essentials  to  achievement. 
/  The  means  of  appeal:  Native  and  acquired  dispositions. 
«rhe  material  with  which  the  teacher  has  to  work  so  far  as  the 
V  student  is  concerned  are  his  native  and  acquired  dispositions. 
The  individual  has  at  the  beginning  of  life,  and  acquires  later 
many  intellectual,  emotional,  and  bodily  tendencies  to  activity. 
The  task  of  the  teacher  is  to  arouse  the  ones  desired  and  to 
direct  the  activity  into  desirable  channels.  This  is  the  rule 
but  occasionally  it  is  right  to  repress  some  activities.  Such 
repression  can  generally  best  be  done  by  the  arousal  and  direc- 
tion of  another  activity. 

No  complete  list  of  the  tendencies  which  a  teacher  has  to 
work  with  has  been  made.  And  for  the  most  part  thorough 
analysis  and  understanding  of  the  native  tendencies  are  still 
to  come.  The  tendencies  themselves  form  the  means  to  the 
transformation  of  the  individual  into  that  which  he  should  be. 
The  ends  to  be  attained  are  the  more  or  less  permanent  dis- 
positions. V  Without  attempt  at  classification  or  of  complete- 
ness, we  ^ive  the  following  list  of  tendencies  with  which  the 
teacher  should  be  familiar.  For  such  knowledge  the  teacher 
should  have  a  course  in  Child  Study.  It  may  not  be  too  much 
impressed  upon  the  teacher  that  he  is  dealing  with  activity  and 
life,  not  with  inactivity  and  death. 


MAKING  THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  STUDENT 


145 


What  the  tendencies  are: 
Reflexes 

Tendencies    to    more    com- 
plex movements 
Fear 
Imitation 
Fighting 
Rivalry 

Acquiring  and  collecting 
Protecting  instinct 
Hunting 
Scorn 

Self  assertion 
Submission 
Bashfulness 
Bullying 

Tendency  to  follow 
Tendency  to  lead 
Curiosity 
Love 
Anger 

Tendency  to  enjoy 
Avoidance  of  pain 
Play 


Manipulation 
Love  of  approval 
Desire  to  be  with  others 
To    be    comfortable    or    an- 
noyed 
Sex  instinct 
Parental  instinct 
Repulsion 
Credulity 
Suggestibility 

Tendency  to  try  things  out 
Tendency  to  let  things  be 
Empathy 

Tendency  to  run  from 
Wonder 
Elation 
Pity 

Surprise 
Fascination 
Joy 

Sorrow 
Respect 
Reverence 


Let  it  be  remembered  that  this  is  no  attempt  to  indicate  the 
original  nature  of  man,  but  to  suggest  the  tendencies  with 
which  the  teacher  has  to  deal.  Some  of  those  named  above 
are  not  native  but  acquired,  e.  g.,  the  tendency  to  imitate. 
Neither  does  the  list  indicate  those  elements  which  are  irre- 
ducible to  simpler  tendencies.  Play,  for  example,  is  complex. 
The  teacher  in  actual  work  is  not  concerned  with  the  final 
analysis  of  these  things,  but  must  work  with  simpler  and  more 
complex  dispositions  as  opportunity  permits  and  need 
demands. 

Results  of  an  attempt  to  classify  in  order  of  importance.  It 
is  of  great  value  for  the  teacher  to  realize  so  far  as  possible 
the  relative  value  of  appeals  to  different  tendencies.  It  is 
clear  that  this  is  so  when  one  realizes  that  the  activities  arous- 
ed tend  to  become  permanent,  conforming  as  they  must  to  the 
laws  of  habit.  It  is  true  that  the  teacher  should  know  all  the 
kinds  of  appeal  that  are  available  and  follow  the  general  prin- 
ciple of  making  the  highest  type  of  appeal  possible  in  any 
given  case.  An  attempt  at  classification  has  been  made  by 
some  of  my  students  who  have  had  experience  in  teaching. 
The  following  list  shows  the  order  from  most  to  least  import- 


146  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

ant  as  agreed  upon  by  the  class  after  studying  their  separate 
reports  and  discussing  them  in  class.  Another  group  might 
find  little  agreement  with  this  order,  but  would  find  it  of  value 
to  consider  the  order  given  and  to  compare  it  with  some  other 
order  that  they  judge  better,  and  to  think  out  the  reasons  for 
their  preferences. 

1.  Desire  to  learn  and  tendency  to  give  attention. 

2.  Curiosity  and  the  tendencies  to  be  interested  and  to 
use  effort. 

3.  Play. 

4.  Imitation.  Tendencies  to  unconscious  and  conscious- 
ly directed  imitation,  and  in  connection  with  ideals. 

5.  Emulation;  also,  in  connection  with  fear  of  scorn  and 
of  criticism. 

6.  Secondary  race  preserving  tendencies:  hoarding,  ex- 
ploring, ownership,  manipulating,  collecting,  and  the 
like. 

7.  Altruistic:  communication  and  cooperation;  gaining 
attention  of  others  for  their  good;  kindness,  and  the 
like.     To  be  master  of  or  submissive  to. 

8.  Tendencies  to  physical  adjustment:  to  give  attention, 
to  inhibit  distractions,  to  make  motor  coordinations. 

9.  Primary  race  preserving  tendencies:  sex,  gregarious- 
ness,  reverence,  jealousy,  anger,  bodily  fear,  sorrow, 
and  the  like. 

The  selfish  instincts.  Professor  E.  J.  Swift,  in  his  "Youth 
and  the  Race,"  (94),  shows  the  way  in  which  students  have 
been  aroused  to  devote  themselves  to  earnest  effort.  Emula- 
tion, competition,  ownership,  and  other  native  tendencies  were 
aroused  in  such  a  way  that  enthusiastic  study  took  the  place  of 
lack  of  interest  and  lawlessness.  One  point  which  he  brings 
out  is  worthy  of  special  consideration.  It  is  that  of  the  real- 
ization of  an  activity  being  "mine'*  and  for  ''my*'  good.  Many 
examples  are  given  to  show  how  a  pupil  will  take  a  new  and 
deep  interest  in  an  activity  which  he  comes  to  think  of  as  not 
the  teacher's  work  but  of  being  "my  work."  Latin  instead  of 
being  an  uninteresting  subject  came  to  be  a  language  in  which 
to  debate.  Other  subjects  in  w^hich  teachers  worked  in  vain 
to  keep  up  an  interest  came  to  be  subjects  in  which  the  stud- 
ents vied  with  each  other  to  be  the  best  informed.  It  was  their 
activity  and  not  the  teacher's.  Even  truants  were  aroused  to 
solve  the  truancy  problems  in  several  schools  and  succeeded 
where  the  principals  had  failed. 


MAKING  THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  STUDENT  147 

Case  studies  of  successful  appeals.  The  writer  has  collected 
cases  of  successful  appeal  by  teachers  and  social  workers. 
Many  of  these  he  has  found  in  his  visits  to  the  school  room. 
Some  of  them  he  has  learned  of  in  conversation  with  the  teach- 
ers. For  some  of  them  he  is  indebted  to  the  reports  of  former 
students  in  educational  psycholog>%  who  report  their  own  ex- 
periences, or  who  have  brought  to  his  attention  successful 
cases  of  other  workers.  These  cases  illustrate  concretely  and 
vividly  the  application  of  psychological  laws,  and,  it  is  hoped, 
may  offer  valuable  suggestions  to  teachers  who  have  not  solv- 
ed this  particular  kind  of  problem. 

A  tactful  request.  The  following  incident  occurred  in  a 
countr\^  school.  The  scholars  were  of  many  different  ages 
and  sizes.  The  teacher  was  a  young  lady.  One  of  the 
largest  boys  had  been  causing  a  good  deal  of  trouble;  finally 
he  threw  a  large  ball  of  paper  across  the  room.  The  teacher 
who  was  accustomed  to  keep  order  told  him  to  pick  it  up. 
This  he  refused  to  do.  The  teacher  asked  him  several  times, 
but  he  absolutely  refused.  The  teacher  asked  him  final- 
ly in  the  following  way :  "All  I  can  do  is  to  ask  you  to  pick  it 
up.  You  are  much  larger  and  stronger  than  I  am,  so  you  see 
I  cannot  make  you  do  it."  At  this  the  boy  changed  his  attitude, 
picked  up  the  paper,  and  came  to  treat  the  teacher  more 
courteously. 

The  group  spirit:  the  pupils  own  problem.  The  people 
living  near  a  certain  school  play  ground  called  an  indignation 
meeting  following  the  breaking  of  a  window  during  a  ball 
game.  The  play  ground  had  been  disorderly  and  the  neigh- 
bors had  had  considerable  trouble  at  various  times.  Contrary 
to  the  plan  of  these  people,  the  boys  were  permitted  to  attend 
the  meeting?.  Before  the  supervisor  of  play  grounds  they 
were  permitted  to  present  their  case.  They  admitted  their 
wrong  doings,  and  presented  a  plea  for  the  use  of  the  ground 
as  before.  They  were  finally  granted  the  use  of  the  ground 
to  see  what  they  could  do  to  make  it  what  it  should  be. 

After  the  parents  had  departed  the  boys  stayed  and  took  up 
the  matter  of  discipline.  They  condemned  smoking  and 
swearing  on  the  play  ground  and  planned  several  reforms.  It 
now  being  their  problem  they  went  to  work  to  see  that  the 
ground  was  used  so  as  to  be  unobjectionable  and  some  of  their 
own  number  were  appointed  to  see  that  the  plans  were  carried 
out.  A  great  deal  of  improvement  in  the  discipline  was  ob- 
sers'ed. 


148  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

The  feeling  of  usefulness.  In  a  sixth  grade  of  a  certain 
Minneapolis  school,  one  boy  was  very  obstinate  and  a  great 
disturber  of  the  school.  The  teacher  had  repeatedly  kept  him 
after  school  and  tried  different  methods  to  get  him  to  do  better. 
All  efforts  had  failed  and  they  were  very  much  at  odds  with 
each  other.  One  noon  she  asked  him  to  stay  a  few  minutes. 
When  she  went  to  his  desk  she  found  him  drawing  a  coffee 
pot  and  other  similar  objects.  She  asked  him  why  he  drew 
such  things  and  he  told  her  that  his  mother  worked,  so  that 
when  he  reached  home  he  had  to  prepare  lunch  for  the  other 
children  and  they  were  uppermost  in  his  mind.  She  talked 
with  him  a  few  minutes  and  told  him  that  she  thought  he  could 
be  of  a  good  deal  of  help  to  her,  that  she  would  depend  upon 
him  to  assist  her  with  the  diagrams,  and  drawings  which  she 
had  to  make.  Beginning  with  that  afternoon  his  conduct 
changed  and  he  never  afterwards  gave  any  trouble.  He  show- 
ed interest  in  the  work  of  the  school  and  seemed  to  feel  that 
he  was  of  real  use  to  the  teacher  and  to  the  whole  school. 

Being  a  knight,  A  boy  in  a  local  kindergarten  came  from  a 
wealthy  home  and  had  no  idea  of  obedience.  He  seemed  to 
want  to  do  whatever  he  thought  he  should  not  do.  If  the 
teacher  told  another  child  not  to  do  a  certain  thing  he  at  once 
did  it.  The  teacher  conceived  the  idea  of  having  the  boy  take 
the  role  of  a  knight.  What  a  knight  should  be  was  explained 
to  him.  A  knight  would  be  courteous,  etc.  Of  course,  a  knight 
would  not  do  certain  things,  for  example,  he  would  not  knock 
down  smaller  boys,  or  pull  girls'  hair.  The  ideal  appealed  to 
the  boy  and  he  decided  to  be  a  knight.  In  this  way  he  grew 
to  be  one  of  the  best  behaved  boys  in  the  kindergarten. 

School  money,  bankbooks,  and  ownership,  "At  a  small 
school  in  California  which  I  attended  some  years  ago,"  writes 
a  former  student,  "a  number  of  devices  were  used  to  direct  the 
energy  and  interests  of  the  students  into  useful  paths.  In  the 
first  place,  all  of  the  boys  and  girls  in  the  school  were  reward- 
ed for  their  efforts  by  toy  money.  They  were  paid  for  wash- 
ing the  blackboards,  for  doing  copy  work  for  the  teacher,  for 
receiving  the  best  marks  in  spelling  or  arithmetic  for  one 
week,  and  the  like.  There  were  also  fines  for  misconduct. 
Each  one  in  the  school  had  his  private  account  book.  Monthly 
these  books  were  handed  in  for  inspection.  Incidentally, 
many  of  us  learned  some  useful  hints  about  keeping  accounts. 
The  system  aroused  the  instincts  of  play,  rivalry  and  ambition. 
Each  child  felt  the  pride  of  ownership  in  money  he  himself 


MAKING  THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  STUDENT  149 

had  earned  by  hard  work.  The  children  did  not  become 
miserly,  but  were  generous  with  their  money.  In  the  same 
school,  there  was  a  monthly  paper  published  by  the  students. 
Also,  each  one  had  his  little  garden  plot  in  the  school  yard.  In 
all  these  things,  the  children  felt  the  pride  of  ownership  and 
its  responsibility.  By  appealing  to  the  selfish  instincts,  the 
teacher  gave  the  stimulus  to  rapid  progress." 

Appeal  to  pride  in  one's  own  possessions.  The  following 
case  represents  the  experience  of  one  of  my  students.  She 
writes:  "When  I  was  a  child  I  took  no  interest  inside  the  house 
and  did  not  seem  to  be  at  all  domestically  inclined.  My  father 
had  a  play  house  built  and  all  the  children  of  the  neighbor- 
hood enjoyed  it.  I  took  great  pride  in  keeping  my  play  house 
clean  and  straight,  and  it  was  almost  impossible  to  keep  me 
away  from  the  place.  I  must  have  taken  more  interest  in  the 
play  house  because  I  felt  that  I  owned  it.  This  shows  a  pride 
in  one's  own  possessions  not  felt  in  another's." 

Winning  pupils  through  tact,  play  and  a  friendly  attitude. 
The  following  quotation  from  the  statement  given  me  by  a 
young  and  inexperienced  teacher  shows  the  possibilities  that 
lie  in  the  right  treatment  of  a  difficult  case. 

"I  had  signed  my  contract  to  teach  a  rural  school  in  the  east- 
ern part  of county,  Minn.     The  district  had  offered  what 

was  considered  an  unusually  high  salary  and  that  fact  alone 
was  sufficient  to  prove  that  'there  was  something  wrong  some- 
where.' Hardly  had  I  reached  my  boarding  house  before  I 
was  told  of  the  awful  ordeal  ahead  of  me.  No  teacher  in  the 
last  four  years  had  been  able  to  finish  the  term  of  her  contract 
because  of  Willie.  I  learned  that  Willie  was  a  boy  of  eleven, 
whom  no  one  had  been  able  to  discipline.  Even  his  parents 
coujld  not  do  anything  with  him.     Many  tales  were  told  of  his 

obstinacy  and  absolute  disregard  of  authority Here  was  I, 

confronted  bv  the  problem,  and  only  an  inexperienced  girl  of 
seventeen.  What  was  my  surprise,  on  unlocking  the  school 
house  door  the  next  morning,  to  be  confronted  within  by  a 
sicklv  looking,  stunted  figure  of  a  boy  with  a  face  which, 
despite  tlie  evident  satisfaction  of  having  *put  one  over  on  the 
new  teacher,'  was  wizened  and  somewhat  pitiful  if  one  stopped 
to  analyze  it.  He  had  evidently  crawled  in  through  the  win- 
dow and  seemed  to  be  quite  taken  aback  when  I  did  not  im- 
mediately reprimand  him  for  having  done  so 

Wlien  I  began  to  try  to  carry  on  a  conversation  with  him, 
he  started  to  bounce  a  baseball  against  the  blackboard.      It 


150  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

was  not  yet  7:15  and  after  not  noticing  (apparently)  what  he 
was  doing  for  some  time  and  having  arranged  for  the  opening 
of  school,  I  suggested  to  Willie,  for  it  was  none  other  than  he, 
that  we  go  out  on  the  hill  and  play  catch.  I  never  have  seen 
a  more  surprised  boy.  He  seemed  unable  to  understand  me 
and  did  not  take  me  seriously  until  I  led  the  way.  I  had  had 
considerable  experience  in  playing  catch,  so  was  not  at  all 
doubtful  about  my  ability,  which  so  surprised  Willie  that  he 
almost  forgot,  by  the  time  the  other  pupils  arrived,  that  he  was 
playing   with    the   new   teacher  whom  he  had  come  early  to 

tease  into   reprimanding   him Several  children  arrived 

early,  so  I  suggested  that  we  play  baseball,  which  suggestion 
was  readilly  adopted. 

By  school  time  my  ability  to  play  and  my  attitude  of  'being 
one  of  them  in  their  play'  had  won  the  admiration,  not  only 
of  Willie,  whom  I  feared  to  meet,  but  of  all  the  pupils,  so  that 
when  we  came  into  the  school  room  every  one  went  to  the  as- 
signed seat  and  to  work  without  the  least  disturbance.  Not 
once  during  my  stay  of  nine  months  did  I  have  trouble  with 
Willie  and  he  begged  his  father,  who  was  on  the  school  board, 
to  get  me  to  come  back.  To  this  day,  Willie  is  a  loyal  friend 
and  his  cards  of  greeting  come  regularly.  His  parents  tell  me 
that  he  learned  more  in  those  nine  months  than  in  all  his  pre- 
vious school  work 

My  measure  of  success  was  due  to  what  at  that  time  was  an 
accident,  but  a  lucky  one  for  me,  for  it  was  one  which  resulted 
from  my  directing  their  innate  tendency  to  play,  and  through 
that  channel,  I  was  able  to  direct  not  only  Willie,  but  all  the 
pupils  into  an  attitude  of  mind  which  fostered  study  when  it 
was  time  to  study " 

Army  organization  and  reward  of  a  holiday.  A  fifth  grade 
teacher  had  experienced  a  great  deal  of  trouble  on  account  of 
noise  and  confusion  in  the  school  room  and  was  getting  dis- 
couraged over  the  general  problem  of  discipline.  To  solve 
the  problem  she  appointed  those  who  were  making  the  most 
trouble  as  captains, — one  for  each  row.  It  was  the  duty  of 
each  captain  to  collect  all  papers  and  to  maintain  order  in  his 
particular  row.  Each  child  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
captain  of  his  row.  And  every  soldier  was  to  cooperate  with 
his  captain  in  an  endeavor  to  make  his  army,  i.  e.,  the  pupils 
in  his  row,  maintain  better  order  than  was  maintained  in  any 
other  army. 


MAKING  THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  STUDENT  151 

As  a  reward  for  the  best  disciplined  army  the  teacher  gave 
a  half-holiday.  Since  the  troublesome  scholars  are  usually 
the  most  desirous  of  a  holiday,  this  plan  worked  well  and  the 
teacher  found  a  very  effective  method  of  keeping  order  with 
little  effort  on  her  part. 

The  arousal  and  development  of  interest.  One  feeling, 
namely  interest,  deserves  special  mention.  It  goes  with  a  dis- 
position particularly  valuable  for  study.  The  means  of  arous- 
ing interest  are  various.  Through  some  of  the  following 
means  it  is  generally  possible  to  arouse  it  if  it  be  lacking  and 
to  increase  it  where  there  is  very  little. 

Interest  and  the  force  of  suggestion.  There  are  many  kinds 
of  suggestion.  People,  actions,  things,  places,  all  are  sugges- 
tions to  something  good  or  bad.  In  the  first  place,  a  desirable 
environment  for  study  incites  one  to  the  work.  Where  the 
work  is  going  on;  where  others  are  interested  and  enthusiastic; 
where  the  subject  is  being  discussed;  where  the  books  or  ma- 
terial are  present  and  ready  for  use;  and  where  distracting 
things  are  not  too  many  or  too  insistent,  the  student  finds  that 
interest  is  likely  to  come,  or  if  already  present,  to  develop. 
When  one  has  magazines  coming  to  his  door,  and  books  on  his 
table,  they  are  suggestions  to  read.  One  is  more  likely  to  find 
himself  reading  them  regularly  than  if  the  suggestion  were 
lacking  and  he  had  to  go  to  the  library  for  them.  People  who 
suggest  study  are  to  be  chosen  and  those  who  suggest  laziness 
are  to  be  avoided.  Biography  is  very  stimulating  and  one  can 
hardly  find  any  reading  that  offers  more  stimulating  sugges- 
tion to  effort  than  biography  affords. 

The  law  of  affective  expansion.  The  gaining  of  some  pleas- 
ant knowledge  about  a  subject  is  often  a  means  of  arousing 
interest  in  the  whole  subject.  No  better  way  of  starting 
botany  can  be  found  than  by  going  with  an  interesting  botanist 
through  the  woods  and  listening  to  him  tell  about  this  plant 
and  that  fiower.  One  of  my  students  reports  to  me  that  in 
high  school  he  cared  little  or  not  at  all  about  literature  until 
one  day  a  teacher  read  to  the  class  one  of  Poe's  stories.  After 
that  he  was  not  satisfied  until  he  had  read  more  of  Poe.  From 
Poe  he  went  to  Cooper  and  then  to  other  writers.  A  visit  to 
a  municipal  water  works,  has  in  my  knowledge,  led  many 
students  to  an  interest  in  the  problems  found  there  but  has  ex- 
panded to  other  problems  of  civics.  One  of  my  students  re- 
ports the  following  expansion  of  interest  in  the  field  of  history. 
"Interest  in  chivalry  was  aroused  and  this  turned  to  interest 


152  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

in  feudalism  and  from  that  led  on  to  the  crusades,  and  later  to 
the  rise  of  Italian  cities,  all  of  which  transferred  to  the  whole 
field  of  medieval  history." 

Association  and  the  development  of  interest.  Another 
method  of  getting  interest  is  to  associate  something  pleasant 
with  the  activity.  Rewards  often  act  in  this  way.  The  pleas- 
antness of  the  reward  is  associated  with  the  study  itself.  The 
pleasantness  of  a  trip  with  the  geology  that  is  learned.  The 
delightful  textbook  may  associate  pleasantness  with  the  sub- 
ject itself.  The  sarcasm  of  a  teacher  too  often  couples  the 
unpleasantness  with  the  subject  which  is  being  taught.  The 
interest  which  may  be  aroused  by  a  moving  picture  is  an  illus- 
tration of  this  use  of  association. 

Interest  and  attitude.  Another  way  to  arouse  interest  is  to 
take  an  attitude  in  connection  with  the  matter.  Take  up  a 
point  in  relation  to  your  subject  and  defend  it;  or  take  a  theory 
or  what  not  and  show  its  weakness  or  its  value;  It  has  been 
found  that  taking  some  such  attitude  may  in  the  long  run 
make  the  whole  subject  interesting. 

Realization  of  use  or  value.  Things  are  commonly  interest- 
ing when  we  find  a  use  to  which  we  can  put  them.  Courses 
are  much  more  likely  to  be  chosen  if  students  find  that  they 
can  make  application  of  the  material  taught.  One  may  de- 
velop an  interest  in  a  subject  by  discovering  some  way  in 
which  the  knowledge  may  throw  light  on  some  of  his  prob- 
lems; it  may  throw  light  on  facts  in  some  other  field.  It  may 
be  by  coming  to  a  realization  of  the  significance  of  the  subject 
in  one's  future  career. 

One  may  also  find  a  deep  and  abiding  interest  in  a  subject 
if  one  can  see  its  relation  to  some  larger  work,  the  way  it  may 
help  in  achieving  some  larger  purpose  in  life.  Domestic 
science  is  often  interesting  because  it  is  thought  to  be  valuable 
in  preparing  the  student  for  home  making.  So  may  other 
subjects  be  interesting  if  one  only  realize  that  studying  them 
puts  him  into  possession  of  the  intellectual  heritage  of  his 
people  and  makes  him  acquainted  with  the  things  that  are 
common  knowledge  of  educated  people.  Certain  it  is  that 
domestic  science,  and  manual  training,  and  like  subjects  have 
given  many  students  a  new  interest  in  all  the  school  subjects 
and  have  helped  solve  problems  of  interest  and  truancy  alike. 

The  feeling  of  need.  It  is  a  commonplace  of  psychology 
that  people  give  attention  to  those  things  that  satisfy  desires 
or  needs.     This  fact  is  taken  advantage  of  in  the  school  in  dif- 


MAKING  THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  STUDENT  153 

ferent  ways.  The  writer  discovered  this  principle  being  used 
systematically  by  some  of  the  teachers  in  The  Dunwoody  In- 
stitute in  Minneapolis.  The  boys  were  taken,  for  example,  to 
the  shop.  Here  certain  work  was  planned.  But  to  do  this 
work  it  would  be  necessary  to  solve  some  mathematical  prob- 
lem. The  boys  were  eager  to  begin  the  work  on  this  particu- 
lar piece  but  were  told  that  they  would  have  to  be  able  to  work 
out  the  mathematical  problem  for  themselves.  This  they 
could  learn  to  do  in  the  class  in  mathematics  upstairs  and  they 
found  the  mathematics  teacher  ready  to  lay  aside  other  press- 
ing matters  and  satisfy  their  desire  to  know  how  to  do  this 
problem.  The  members  of  this  class  showed  unmistakable 
interest  and  good  attention  and  all  the  mathematics  teacher 
had  to  do  was  to  explain  the  matter.  Here,  also,  one  finds  a 
pretty  example  of  correlation. 

On  inquiry  the  teacher  said  that  a  very  large  number  of  the 
problems  in  mathematics  could  be  made  to  come  up  in  the 
shop  and  be  thus  answered  in  the  class  room.  Where  they 
could  not,  the  problem  was  presented  in  the  class  room  in  such 
a  way  that  the  pupils  recognized  that  they  would  need  this 
work  in  the  shop  or  elsewhere  before  long. 

Interest  through  special  topics.  In  some  of  the  schools 
which  the  writer  has  visited,  he  has  found  teachers  assigning 
special  topics  to  pupils.  A  problem  would  arise  in  the  course 
of  a  recitation  and,  the  pupils  being  unable  to  solve  it,  the 
teacher  would  ask  one  of  the  pupils  if  he  would  look  up  the 
matter  and  report  it  at  the  next  recitation.  Or  a  lesson  would 
be  assigned  and  the  teacher  would  single  out  several  topics  of 
special  significance  and  ask  as  many  pupils  to  be  prepared  to 
talk  on  them  next  time,  each  pupil  being  given  one  of  the 
topics.  This  plan  seems  to  give  very  good  results.  The  child- 
ren have  been  interested  not  only  in  their  own  reports  but  in 
the  reports  of  other  students  and  this  interest  has  been  accom- 
panied by  increased  interest  in  the  regular  assignments. 

Interest  and  the  assignment  of  lessons.  Making  the  assign- 
ment for  the  next  lesson  is  a  very  important  part  of  the  teach- 
er's work.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  old  method  of  telling  the 
pupils  to  "take  the  next  chapter,"  or  "take  the  next  eight 
pages"  will  soon  disappear  from  practice  as  it  has  from  theory. 
There  is  nothing  interesting  about  such  an  assignment.  It 
does  not  arouse  to  a  study  attitude.  It  has,  perhaps,  no  ad- 
vantage at  all  except  that  it  saves  the  teacher  the  time  of  pre- 
paring the  assignment.     And  the  assignment  should  be  pre- 


154  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

pared  just  as  surely  as  the  teaching  itself  should  be  prepared. 
The  giving  of  the  assignment  is,  in  fact,  a  part  of  the  teaching. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  "next  chapter"  is  on  capillary  at- 
traction. What  kind  of  a  real  assignment  can  be  made?  The 
writer  suggests  something  like  the  following :  It  has  been  said 
that  when  one  end  of  a  small  hollow  glass  tube  open  at  both 
ends  is  put  into  water,  the  water  will  rise  in  the  tube.  If  you 
lower  one  end  of  such  a  tube  into  the  water,  the  water  will  rise 
inside  the  tube  higher  than  the  level  of  the  water  outside  the 
tube?  Will  it  always  do  this ?  I  want  you  to  find  out  whether 
or  not  this  is  true,  and  if  it  is  sometimes  true,  when  it  is  true? 
You  can  find  help  in  solving  this  on  pages  so  and  so  in  your 
text  book. 

Such  an  assignment  has  at  least  some  advantages.  It  is 
more  interesting  than  the  assignment  first  mentioned.  It  may 
arouse  the  pupil  to  try  for  himself  to  find  out  the  truth  of  the 
matter.  It  suggests  experiment  and  the  teacher  may  add 
further  suggestion  for  experimentation  when  he  gives  the  as- 
signment. It  is  definite  and  not  so  likely  to  be  forgotten  as 
the  other  assignment. 

Utilizing  manual  activities,  A  boy  in  a  local  school  was  re- 
ported to  be  the  worst  that  the  truant  officer  had  to  deal  with. 
Finally  the  boy  was  sent  to  a  detention  home  for  boys.  It 
seemed  as  though  no  one  could  succeed  in  any  way  with  the 
case.  He  stayed  at  the  detention  home  for  a  few  days  and 
then  ray  away.  He  was  later  found  and  sent  back  to  the  home. 
Finally  a  man  interested  himself  in  the  matter.  Through  his 
influence,  the  boy  was  admitted  to  one  of  the  city  schools  again 
and  allowed  to  take  manual  training.  This  was  a  special  con- 
cession as  he  was  below  the  age  at  which  boys  were  permitted 
to  take  this  subject.  He  became  greatly  interested,  found  an 
outlet  for  his  desire  to  do  things,  and  in  a  short  time  became 
one  of  the  most  efficient  and  trusted  boys  in  the  school. 

Use  of  the  dramatic  tendency.  The  failure  of  one  teacher 
to  interest  her  pupils  in  geography  was  remedied  in  the  fol- 
lowing way.  She  had  a  6th  grade  class  and  her  pupils  showed 
almost  no  interest  in  the  subject.  They  seemed  to  do  as  little 
work  in  connection  with  the  subject  as  possible  and  could  tell 

hardly  anything  about  the  work  from  day  to  day.     Miss 

told  her  class  one  day  that  they  might  act  out  things  where 
they  found  it  possible.  The  children  devised,  with  the  help 
of  the  teacher,  ways  and  means  of  acting  out  some  of  the  activ- 
ities of  different  peoples.    They  even  got  costumes  for  some 


MAKING  THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  STUDENT  155 

occasions  and  brought  in  some  objects  to  illustrate  the  lives 
and  occupations  of  those  whom  they  were  studying.  Interest 
was  kindled.  The  children  studied,  either  to  put  on  something 
of  their  own  or  to  see  if  those  who  did  put  it  on  did  it  right. 
This  method  gave  opportunity  for  originality  and  ingenuity  on 
the  part  of  the  pupils  in  working  up  their  presentations. 
Geography  in  this  school  became  one  of  the  most  interesting 
subjects  instead  of  the  least  interesting  as  it  had  been. 

Sublimation.  The  energy  aroused  in  connection  with  some 
of  the  strong  emotions  which  may  be  misdirected,  can  very 
well  be  directed  into  higher  channels  so  to  speak,  that  is,  it 
may  be  sublimated.  During  my  student  days  I  had  a  type- 
writer which  did  not  do  good  work.  It  was  not  until  I  found 
a  man  rooming  in  the  same  house  whose  machine  did  better 
work  than  mine  that  I  became  somewhat  indignant.  This  was 
partly  due  to  the  fact  that  I  had  paid  a  little  more  for  my  ma- 
chine than  he  had  for  his.  The  result  was  that  I  was  determ- 
ined that  my  typewriter  should  work  as  well  or  better  than  his 
and  two  hours  spent  in  taking  it  apart  and  putting  it  together 
again  achieved  my  purpose.  The  point  is  that  my  indignation 
was  turned  to  good  account.  The  boy  who  likes  to  fight  and 
who  feels  like  fighting  may  be  taught  to  direct  his  energy  to 
overcoming  problems  or  to  protecting  weaker  companions 
from  the  school  bully,  instead  of  becoming  a  bully  himself. 
Jealousy  may  be  valuable  if  it  is  jealousy  for  one's  reputation. 
These  native  tendencies  may,  with  the  proper  suggestion,  be 
turned  to  good  account  and  the  study  attitude  aroused  and 
interest  be  developed  in  study. 

Action  and  feeling.  Independent  of  any  theory  of  emotion, 
the  fact  is  that  feelings  and  attitudes  may  be  aroused  by  acting 
as  thoui?h  one  had  them.  To  be  cheerful  let  one  act  cheer- 
fullv.  To  be  attentive  let  one  go  through  the  motions  of  at- 
tending. Repeating  the  words  of  the  instructor,  writing  notes, 
talking  about  the  subject,  or  asking  questions,  have  been  found 
to  help  students.  This  action  is  likely  to  result  in  an  interest 
before  one  realizes  it. 

Centering  interest  in  the  pupil's  activity.  One  of  my  stud- 
ents reports  the  following  from  her  experience:  "The  boys  in 
my  Sunday  School  come  to  class  every  Sunday  and  sit  and 
squirm  around  without  ever  listening  to  anything  they  are  told. 
Last  Sunday  I  turned  the  whole  lesson  over  to  them.  It  was 
review  and  was  conducted  in  the  following  manner.  One  boy 
started  a  Bible  story  and  when  he  had  told  some  of  it  called  on 
another  boy.     This  boy  continued  and  called  on  someone  else. 


156  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

When  one  story  was  finished  they  started  another  and  kept 
that  going.  I  did  not  have  to  say  much  of  anything  and  they 
seemed  much  more  attentive  and  interested  than  they  ever  had 
before.  They  even  got  interested  enough  to  ask  the  others  to 
please  call  on  them." 

Motivation  through  the  activity  of  the  pupil.  A  friend  of 
mine,  a  very  successful  teacher,  makes  a  great  deal  of  use  of 
the  pupil's  activity.  The  class  visited  the  local  water  plant 
recently  to  get  ideas  in  connection  with  civics.  The  trip  raised 
many  questions  about  the  city  government.  The  interest 
aroused  by  this  trip  was  sufficient  to  keep  the  class  discussing 
pertinent  problems  for  several  days  and  led  them  to  look  up 
various  subjects  in  their  books  to  find  answers  to  theii" 
questions. 

In  teaching  English  this  teacher  sends  his  class  to  look  at 
something  which  is  to  be  described  and  they  then  come  in  and 
write.  The  class  I  visited  had  recently  gone  to  a  room  which 
was  used  for  teaching  wireless  telegraphy  and  then  had  writ- 
ten a  description  of  the  room.  Preparation  for  writing  nar- 
ratives was  made  by  having  pupils  ride  in  an  auto,  or  on  a  car, 
or  witness  something  which  was  going  on  in  the  busy  part  of 
the  city;  they  then  gave  an  account  of  what  they  had  seen. 

These  methods  of  arousing  interest  succeeded.  And  they 
had  not  only  the  immediate  success  needed  for  the  writing  and 
for  the  next  day's  discussion,  but  in  many  cases,  if  not  in  most 
cases,  did  that  far  more  valuable  thing.  They  aroused  per- 
manent interests  and  sustained  efforts  in  these  subjects.  They 
were  not  dead  or  semi-remote  things  existing  only  in  text 
books.  They  were  living  realities  discovered  by  the  pupils 
who  had  been  physically  and  mentally  active  in  relation  to 
them. 

"In  almost  any  subject,"  wrote  James,  "your  passion  for  your 
subject  will  save  you.  //  you  only  care  enough  for  a  result, 
you  will  almost  certainly  attain  it."  Then  follows  the  warn- 
ing: "Only  you  must  not  wish  at  the  same  time  a  hundred 
other  incompatible  things  just  as  strongly." 

The  development  from  interest  to  effort.  If  it  is  permissible 
to  try  to  hold  attention  at  first  by  appeal  to  the  native  tenden- 
cies and  interest,  it  is  not  permissible  to  stop  at  that.  No  ed- 
ucation is  complete.  But  any  education  which  fails  to  include 
the  use  of  effort  as  well  as  the  use  of  interest  has  failed  signally 
in  one  of  the  essentials.  The  world  calls  for  those  who  can 
work  for  long  periods  on  things  that  are  often  not  interesting, 
on  things  that  are  arduous  and  unpleasant.     And  it  calls  more 


MAKING  THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  STUDENT  157 

and  more  for  men  who  can  work,  not  for  the  immediate  satis- 
lying  of  desires,  but  for  ideals. 

We  must  then  look  at  our  problem  of  bringing  about  edu- 
cative activity  from  the  point  of  view  of  eft'ort.  In  doing  this 
we  shall  look  at  the  other  side,  so  to  speak,  of  mind.  We  have 
been  looking  at  the  feeling  side.  In  discussing  Attention  and 
Sustained  Effort,  we  shall  look  for  the  most  part  on  the  other 
side,  for  interest  and  attention  are  but  obverse  and  reverse  of 
the  same  thing;  when  we  look  at  the  intellectual  aspect  we 
find  attention;  w^hen  we  look  at  the  feeling  side  we  find  in- 
terest. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  Show  how  the  actions  of  an  individual  are  the  result  of 
an  interaction  between  the  stimulus  and  the  tendencies  to 
react. 

2.  Show  how  the  teacher's  work  is  to  arouse  and  direct  the 
activities  he  desires. 

3.  Why  is  unnecessary  repression  wrong? 

4.  Comment  on  some  of  the  things  in  and  conditions  of  the 
present  day  school  that  make  for  inactivity  and  suppression 
instead  of  making  for  activity  and  direction  of  activity. 

5.  What  is  meant  by  making  the  appeal  to  the  student?  To 
what  is  the  appeal  made,  specifically  and  definitely? 

6.  Compare  the  motivation  of  school  work  with  the  motiv- 
ation of  work  done  outside  of  the  school.  Can  you  see  any 
way  or  ways  in  which  the  motivation  of  school  work  can  be 
made  more  like  that  of  every-day  life  where  men  are  aroused 
to  do  long  and  arduous  tasks? 

7.  Try  to  study  out  for  yourself  what  kinds  of  appeal  you 
think  vou  could  most  successfully  make. 

8.  How  would  kinds  of  appeal  differ  because  of  the  age  and 
the  mentality  of  the  person  appealed  to? 

9.  How  far  is  it  permissible  to  make  school  work  merely 
pleasant  and  play?     Can  the  play  appeal  be  overdone? 

REFERENCES. 

James,  W.     Talks  to  Teachers.     Henrv  Holt,  1904,  Chs.  fi,  7,  and  10. 

KiRKi'ATRicK,  E.  A.  Fundamentals  of  Child  Stiidi;.  The  Macmillan 
Co..  1913,  Chs.  on  instincts. 

Tanxer.  a.  E.     The  Child.     Rand,  McNallv  &  Co.,  1917. 

Thorndike.  E.  L.  Educational  Psijcholoqij,  Vol.  1.  The  Original 
Nature  of  Man,  1913.  Teachers  College.  Columhia  University.  Also 
Educational  Psifcholoqij,  Briefer  Course,  1915,  Part  1. 

H.  G.  Wiisox  and  G.  M.  Wilson.  Motivation  of  School  Work,  1916, 
Houghton,  Mimin  Co. 


Chapter  13 
ATTENTION  AND  SUSTAINED  EFFORT. 

From  interest  to  effort.  The  preceding  chapter  has  dealt 
with  the  arousing  of  activity  which  is,  for  the  most  part,  pleas- 
ant, easy,  interesting,  and  free  from  that  which  we  may  call 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  student.  We  have  just  said,  if  edu- 
cation may  begin  with  that  which  is  thus  pleasant  and  inter- 
esting, it  does  not  follow  that  all  education  may  be  of  this  soft- 
er kind.  Such  an  education  has  not  prepared  the  student  for 
the  difficult,  unpleasant,  arduous  tasks  of  adult  life.  Those 
who  understand  psychology  and  the  demands  of  life,  can  I 
think,  have  no  question  as  to  the  need  for  this  training  that  re- 
quires the  student  to  do  some  things  which  require  effort. 

In  the  present  chapter  we  shall  try  to  show  how  the  doing  of 
the  unpleasant,  the  arduous,  that  which  requires  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  learner,  may  and  often  does,  grow  naturally  out  of 
the  pleasant  and  interesting  activities.  Some  of  the  things 
already  said  and  some  of  the  examples  already  given  show 
this.  Here  we  are  especially  interested  in  effort;  and  shall 
deal  with  the  subject  so  as  to  show  how  we  may  begin  with  a 
simple,  primary  kind  of  attention,  how  we  may  at  a  higher 
stage  of  education  bring  about  a  secondary  or  voluntary  at- 
tention, and  how  this  higher  kind  of  attention  may  grow  into 
a  derived  primary,  or  habitual,  attention,  which  is  more  stable 
and  sustained  than  the  first  kind,  and  which  may  be  accom- 
panied with  the  pleasantness  and  interest  of  the  first  kind. 

The  need  for  attention.  Without  attention  no  study!  The 
better  the  attention,  the  better  all  intellectual  work,  observa- 
tion, memory,  reasoning,  or  whatever  it  may  be.  Inattention 
has  been  placed  at  the  top  of  a  list  of  faults,  and  crimes  of 
school  children.  Many  of  us  have  still  clear  in  memory,  much 
clearer  than  the  things  we  were  supposed  to  learn,  the  request 
of  the  teacher  for  our  "undivided  attention."  Students  have 
often  asked  me  how  they  could  get  better  habits  of  concen- 
tration, this  being  their  greatest  difficulty.  Nothing,  perhaps, 
disturbs  the  student  more  than  this  tendency  of  the  mind  to 
wander.  All  that  we  have  said  in  the  last  chapter  may  apply 
here  but  we  are  now  to  look  at  the  matter  definitely  from  the 
point  of  view  of  attention. 

158 


AITENTION  AND  SUSTAINED  EFFORT  159 

Kinds  or  stages  of  attention.  Before  attempting  to  suggest 
methods  that  have  been  found  to  be  practically  valuable  in 
bringing  about  good  attention  it  will  be  worth  while  to  note 
the  kinds  or  stages  of  attention.  The  student  of  psychology 
is  familiar  with  terms  "voluntary,"  "involuntary,"  and  "non- 
voluntary" in  connection  with  attention.  The  classification 
of  attention  which  seems  most  useful  for  our  purpose  is  that 
of  Titchener.  He  uses  the  terms  "primar}%"  "secondary," 
and  "derived  primary."     (115). 

Primary  attention.  Primary,  or  as  it  is  sometimes  called, 
passive  attention,  is  the  kind  that  is  determined  by  the  things 
going  on  about  us.  A  loud  noise,  a  bright  object,  a  change  in 
the  sound  of  the  automobile  engine,  brings  this  kind  of  atten- 
tion. This  attention  is  attracted  first  to  one  thing  and  then  to 
another;  it  is  held  to  one  thing  only  if  there  is  not  relatively 
greater  distraction.  It  is  the  kind  of  attention  that  we  find  in 
lower  animals,  and  in  people  as  they  walk  along  the  street  and 
are  led  to  notice  objects  in  the  shop  windows.  One  learns  in 
this  stage  of  attention.  And  one  learns  many  valuable  things. 
But  the  learning  is  dependent  upon  the  appeal  to  the  mind  by 
external  things.  Anything  may  distract  and  the  learning  b^ 
interrupted.  In  animals  and  young  children,  we  find,  for  the 
most  part,  only  this  kind  of  attention,  and  they  therefore  fail 
in  one  of  the  things  essential  to  study. 

The  conditions  of  primary  attention.  If  the  teacher  could 
control  the  mind  so  as  to  have  this  attention  to  the  subjects  of 
study  whenever  and  as  long  as  he  wished,  the  task  of  teaching 
would  be  as  easy  as  the  most  hopeful  would  wish.  But  the 
passing  auto  truck,  the  sounds  in  the  corridor,  the  memory  of 
last  night's  dance,  the  expectation  of  the  picnic  next  Saturday, 
the  subject  for  debate,  the  mistake  that  lost  us  the  game,  the 
tendency  to  think  about  something  in  the  shop,  run  the  keen- 
est competition  to  the  attractions  offered  by  the  teacher. 

The  conditions  that  the  teacher  can  use  are  already  taking 
the  student  along  some  line  of  thought.  There  is  never  a  time 
when  a  person  is  not  attentive  to  something  if  he  be  awake. 
The  problem  is  to  determine  the  conditions  so  that  attention 
will  be  directed  to  the  subject  of  study.  These  conditions  are 
vividness  or  intensity,  novelty,  suddenness,  continued  repe- 
tition, familiarity,  movement,  cessation  of  stimulus,  change  of 
stimulus,  and  leaving  aside  the  technicalities  of  scientific  psy- 
cholog>%  interest. 


160  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

Vividness  or  intensity  of  the  stimulus.  It  is  obvious  that  the 
teacher  may  make  the  sound  of  the  voice  very  forceful  and 
not  without  good  results  on  many  occasions.  The  very  earn- 
estness and  forcefulness  of  many  speakers  often  reach  their 
hearers  when  no  other  quality  is  present  that  would  command 
attention.  I  know  one  professor  who  is  often  called  upon  to 
give  commencement  addresses  and  nothing  more  than  his  very 
earnestness  holds  his  audience  in  close  attention.  But  I  also 
remember  another  professor  whose  lectures  I  attended  and 
whose  intensity  missed  the  mark.  He  was  in  the  habit  of 
raising  his  voice,  pounding  upon  the  de^k  and  reaching  a 
closed  fist  out  over  the  desk  where  he  shook  it  at  the  class.  My 
attention  was  attracted  to  be  sure.  I  sat  on  the  front  seat  and 
had  the  full  benefit.  But  my  attention  more  than  once  was 
attracted  to  the  actions  themselves  and  to  the  wondering  if 
his  white  cuff  would  not  some  day  fall  off  in  my  lap  and  I  have 
the  pleasure  of  returning  it  to  him. 

Change  of  stimulus.  Lowering  the  voice  is  often  very  ef- 
fective. I  have  often  brought  a  class  of  boys  to  quiet  by  start- 
ing to  talk  in  a  voice  so  low  that  they  could  not  hear  and  found 
that  they  would  stop  their  noise  and  ask  one  another  to  be 
quiet  so  as  to  hear  what  I  had  to  say.  I  recall  a  very  im- 
pressive bit  of  advice  given  me  by  a  teacher  in  a  very  low 
voice;  so  low,  in  fact,  that  I  had  to  strain  a  little  to  hear.  I 
recall  also  hearing  the  same  teacher  make  a  public  address 
which  was  a  dismal  failure.  The  whole  reason  being  that  the 
voice  was  too  low  and  the  effort  to  attend  was  altogether  too 
great.  The  changing  of  the  intensity  of  the  stimulus  is  then 
not  without  its  disadvantages,  though  it  may  sometimes  be 
utilized  successfully. 

Novelty,  The  discussion  of  novelty  will  bring  us  to  see  as 
we  must  how  interest  is  involved  in  very  much  of  our  atten- 
tion. The  new  attracts  attention  and  it  is  likely  also  to  be  in- 
teresting, at  least,  for  a  short  time.  Many  ways  have  been 
successfully  tried  to  keep  attention  through  novelty.  New 
questions,  written  instead  of  oral  recitation,  debate  on  the 
subject,  pupils  questioning,  new  illustrations,  new  order,  sum- 
maries, a  new  record  to  make,  applications  to  a  new  problem 
at  home,  in  business,  or  in  the  school, — these  and  many  others 
have  proved  useful.  One  of  my  students  reports  that  when 
other  things  had  failed  to  keep  attention  and  interest  in  ad- 
dition, one  teacher  aroused  almost  tireless  effort  in  the  adding 
of  columns  of  figures  by  using  a  new  incentive.     Those  who 


ATTENTION  AND  SUSTAINED  EFFORT  161 

added  all  the  columns  of  figures  without  making  any  mistakes 
were  "given  bank  positions."  Imaginary  salaries  were  also 
offered.  Accuracy  and  speed  were  soon  at  a  premium.  The 
interest  kept  up  for  a  long  time. 

Familiarity.  Even^one  realizes  that  the  familiar  object,  or 
idea,  or  sound  is  naturally  pleasing.  As  we  read  the  evening 
paper  the  eye  falls  on  the  familiar  words  and  we  are  pleased 
to  look  through  the  articles  on  familiar  topics,  that  is,  of 
course,  if  we  have  not  already  had  too  much  of  them.  Those 
who  are  acquainted  with  children  are  continually  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  children  ask  again  and  again  for  the  stories 
they  have  heard  until  an  adult  would  expect  that  they  had 
grown  tiresome.  It  is  true  that  the  new  is  interesting  only 
when  it  is  related  in  some  way  with  something  which  is  famil- 
iar. That  which  arouses  the  old  associations,  the  old  tenden- 
cies, is  necessary  to  give  interest  and  to  hold  attention. 

The  concrete.  It  must  be  remembered  that  these  factors 
that  determine  attention  are  found  best  in  concrete  situations. 
One  of  the  instructors  in  physics  whom  I  know  finds  the  con- 
crete holds  the  attention  to  things  not  intrinsically  interesting. 
What  is  an  erg  of  work?  The  student  is  not  aroused  to  en- 
thusiasm by  the  question.  This  instructor  brings  out  the 
matter  so  as  to  hold  attention  throughout.  He  takes  one  milli- 
gram weight  on  which  gravity  acts  with  the  force  of  approx- 
imately one  dyne.  He  then  with  seeming  effort  raises  it  by 
means  of  a  pair  of  tweezers,  elevates  it  to  the  upper  surface 
of  a  block  one  centimeter  high  and  then  informs  his  class  that 
he  has  done  one  erg  of  work  by  causing  a  force  of  one  dyne  to 
be  exerted  through  a  distance  of  one  centimeter. 

The  definite  and  concrete.  In  a  class  of  children  most  of 
whom  were  below  the  average  in  mathematical  ability,  as 
shown  by  school  grades  the  writer  found  the  following  method 
very  successful  in  arousing  interest  and  also  clear  ideas  of  the 
problem  to  be  solved.  The  lesson  was  to  teach  how  to  deter- 
mine the  circumference  if  the  diameter  were  given.  The 
teacher  took  a  piece  of  wood,  one  inch  square  and  about 
twelve  inches  long.  With  a  pair  of  dividers  he  described  a 
circle  whose  circumference  was  tangent  with  each  of  the  four 
sides  of  the  square  end  of  the  stick. 

The  teacher  then  gave  the  class  the  dimensions  of  the  piece 
of  wood.  He  then  asked  how  long  a  string  it  would  take  to 
just  go  around  the  stick.  Next,  how  long  a  string  would  it 
take  if  the  stick  were  put  into  a  lathe  and  turned  down  so  that 


162  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

it  would  be  round  and  just  the  size  of  the  circle  which  he  had 
drawn  on  the  end?  Not  quite  four  inches  but  more  than 
three.  Well,  exactly  how  long  must  it  be?  The  teacher  had 
very  successfully  aroused  the  desire  of  the  pupils  to  know  how 
to  solve  the  problem. 

Contrast  this  method  with  the  common  method  of  attempt- 
ing to  teach  problems  in  mathematics  with  no  such  concrete, 
definite  presentation  to  the  pupils.  Once  trying  the  new  is 
sufficient  to  demonstrate  to  the  teacher  its  superiority. 

Secondary  or  voluntary  attention.  We  have  said  that  prim- 
ary attention  is  not  likely  to  be  sustained.  The  tendency  to 
study  that  the  teacher  is  trying  to  arouse  and  keep  going  is  all 
the  time  being  interfered  with  bj^  the  tendency  of  the  student 
to  respond  to  all  those  other  stimuli  of  which  we  have  spoken. 
We  say  that  the  mind  tends  to  wander.  Most  of  our  educa- 
tion goes  on,  not  in  this  primary  attention,  but  in  secondary 
attention.  In  other  words  study  is  hard  work.  It  requires 
effort.  There  must  be  a  conflict  of  impulses  and,  if  the  work 
is  to  go  as  it  should,  the  impulse  to  "stick  to  it,"  to  go  in  the 
line  of  greater  resistance,  must  win.  Suppose,  then,  that  the 
student  can  think  his  problem  through  to  the  end  even  though 
other  things  arouse  impulses  to  shift  his  attention  to  them. 
He  compels  himself  to  write  his  essay  instead  of  thinking  of  a 
dance  or  a  football  game.  He  follows  the  lecture,  or  outlines 
the  chapter  notwithstanding  the  desire  to  do  something  else. 
He  is  working  in  the  stage  of  secondary,  or  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,  voluntary  attention. 

Derived  primary  or  habitual  attention.  At  any  time  now 
the  conflict  may  cease;  there  may  no  longer  be  any  effort  to 
attend.  The  subject,  may,  so  to  speak,  hold  the  student.  The 
sound  of  voices  nearby,  the  noises  of  the  street,  the  call  to 
dinner  even,  may  go  unnoticed.  The  student  is  now  working 
in  the  stage  of  derived  or,  it  may  be  called,  habitual  attention. 
This  is  a  stable,  sustained,  untroubled  attention,  in  which  dis- 
turbances are  no  longer  distractions.  This  is  the  attention 
commonly  found  in  the  inventor,  or  the  research  worker. 

The  conditions  of  secondary  and  derived  attention.  The 
native  tendencies.  We  have  already  spoken  of  the  tendencies 
that  may  be  aroused  and  of  the  feelings  that  indicate  favorable 
conditions  for  study.  The  desire  to  improve,  curiosity,  emu- 
lation, pride  in  one's  accomplishments,  desire  for  the  approval 
of  successful  people,  dissatisfaction  at  one's  own  shortcomings 
are  likely  to  mean  greater  efforts.     Obviously,  if  a  person  is 


ATrENTION   AND  SUSTAINED  EFFORT  163 

suflicicntly  interested,  if  he  have  a  passion  for  the  work,  the 
attention  will  almost  surely  be  sustained.  It  is  necessary  only 
that  the  right  suggestion,  the  right  appeal  of  people  or  things, 
or  events  arouse  the  desired  disposition  for  study; 

The  arousal  of  sustained  attention.  Determination,  pur- 
pose, realization  of  the  value  of  the  results  of  study,  the  ex- 
pectation of  advantage  to  be  gained,  are  closely  related  to  the 
best  kind  of  attention.  I  am  indebted  to  Dean  Coffman  for 
the  story  of  a  boy  who  was  aroused  to  this  kind  of  effort  by 
that  more  vigorous  method  than  is  now  supposed  to  be  fash- 
ionable. The  boy  had  been  sentenced  to  one  of  our  state  pen- 
itentaries  and  began  his  record  in  the  institution  by  breaking 
the  machine  at  which  he  was  put  to  work.  The  overseer  re- 
paired the  machine  and  informed  the  boy  that  he  would  be 
sent  to  the  superintendent  if  he  broke  the  machine  again. 
Very  shortly  the  boy  broke  the  machine  again  and  was  sent  to 
the  superintendent.  The  latter  informed  him  that  he  should 
go  back  to  work  and  added  that  in  case  the  machine  was  again 
broken  he  would  thrash  him.  The  boy  fulfilled  the  require- 
ments for  the  thrashing,  received  it  and  spent  the  night  pacing 
his  cell.  The  guards  reported  that  he  had  not  slept  at  all 
during  the  night. 

The  next  day  his  conduct  changed.  He  went  to  work  and 
from  that  day  worked  faithfully.  He  also  began  to  read  and 
study  and  took  the  best  books  he  could  find  from  the  library. 
His  term  in  the  penitentiary  was  shortened  and  the  day  he  was 
released  he  called  on  the  superintendent.  Do  you  remember, 
he  asked,  the  day  you  thrashed  me  for  breaking  a  machine? 
Yes.  Well,  you  did  not  know  what  I  was  thinking.  No.  I 
was  thinking  that  I  would  be  the  best  citizen  that  was  possible 
or  the  greatest  criminal  that  the  world  had  ever  seen.  And  I 
decided  to  be  the  greatest  criminal.  I  also  decided  that  in 
order  to  be  the  greatest  criminal  the  world  had  ever  known  I 
must  be  well  educated  and  know  the  things  that  other  people 
knew,  so  I  took  the  best  books  1  could  find.  But  as  1  read 
those  books  they  made  me  think  it  over  again  and  again  and 
finally  I  concluded  that  I  was  wrong.  Now  1  am  going  out  to 
be  the  best  citizen  that  I  can  be. 

The  point  in  which  I  am  interested  here  is  that  through 
strong  measures  the  boy  was  brought  to  the  determination  to 
study  and  tliat  long  continued  effort  resulted.  I  have  used 
corporal  punisliment  myself  and  never  without  good  results; 
sustained  effort  and  good  or  excellent  work  followed.      But 


164  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

one  must  use  judgment  and  no  rule  can  determine  when  one 
should  use  strength  or  when  one  might  better  take  a  boy  for 
an  afternoon's  trip  as  my  first  case  illustrated.  Needless  to 
say  corporal  punishment  should  be  used  only  in  the  last  re- 
sort. It  should  never  degenerate  into  the  brutality  which  was 
the  just  cause  for  its  being  thrown  into  disrepute. 

We  would  be  blind,  indeed,  if  we  overlooked  the  fact  that 
Tiuman  beings  are  moved  as  much  or  more  by  their  pains  as 
by  the  beckonings  of  pleasure.  Pleasure  and  pain  have  been 
called  the  great  educators  of  the  world.  Fear  (30)  and  anger 
(29),  if  rightly  directed,  may  be  counted  upon  as  great  educa- 
tive forces. 

The  demand  for  study  is  not  a  siren  call  and  the  pains  and 
discomforts  that  are  necessary  to  move  men  to  work  are  ap- 
propriate for  the  same  reason  as  regards  study,  for  study  is 
work. 

Appeal  made  through  the  removal  of  privileges.  A  few 
years  ago  one  of  our  Minneapolis  judges  told  of  a  delinquent 
whom  he  had  sent  to  the  reformatory.  The  boy  seemed  to  be 
utterly  hardened.  No  appeal  reached  him.  Nothing  would 
bring  him  to  a  desire  to  obey  the  authorities.  Later  they  be- 
gan to  remove  privileges,  one  after  another,  to  see  if  they  could 
find  anything  that  would  touch  a  tender  spot.  Finally  they 
refused  to  let  him  see  his  mother.  This  was  the  thing  for 
which  he  really  cared  and  he  soon  promised  and  performed 
faithfully  all  the  authorities  desired. 

Appeal  to  an  habitual  tendency.  The  appeal  to  an  habitual 
tendency  often  brings  the  desired  result.  A  principal  of  one 
of  the  Minnesota  high  schools  told  me  of  a  boy  who  absolutely 
refused  to  work  for  a  certain  teacher.  He  told  the  principal 
that  she  was  "down  on  him,"  she  was  unjust  to  him;  would 
not  give  him  a  chance;  he  did  not  intend  to  do  any  work  for 
her  and  did  not  care  if  he  failed  in  the  subject.  The  principal 
had  noticed  that  he  was  always  courteous  to  ladies.  He  at 
once  appealed  to  the  boy  to  consider  her  not  as  a  teacher  but 
as  a  lady  and  to  realize  that  even  if  she  were  unjust  it  would 
be  well  for  him  to  think  not  of  teacher  and  pupil,  but  of  gen- 
tleman and  lady  and  to  take  the  initiative.  This  appealed  to 
the  boy  and  a  reconciliation  was  effected. 

The  passing  of  secondary  attention  into  derived  primary 
attention.  The  derived  primary,  which  is  an  absorbed,  sus- 
tained, attention  is  the  best  kind  for  study.  It  comes  about 
when  the  conflict  of  impulses  ceases;  when  the  ideas  present, 


ATrENTION   AND  SUSTAINED  EFFORT  165 

the  determination,  the  purpose,  win  out  over  the  distractions 
and  there  is  no  longer  the  effort  to  attend.  This  happens 
when  the  conditions  of  secondary  attention  are  strong  enough 
to  hold  attention  relatively  independent  of  distraction.  Any 
of  the  factors  that  arouse  interest  and  hold  attention  may  do 
this;  they  must  do  it  so  that  the  disposition  to  continue  re- 
mains. On  the  nervous  side  we  have,  in  this  highest  stage  of 
attention,  permanent  dispositions  to  work  or  study  or  to  attend 
along  certain  lines. 

The  best  attention  is  had  with  slight  distraction.  Not  only 
in  every  day  w^ork  but  in  the  laboratory  it  is  found  that  the 
best  attention  is  had  when  some  slight  distraction  is  present. 
It  is  this  disturbance  that  seems  to  be  necessary  to  arouse  one 
to  real  effort.  The  overcoming  of  some  difliculty  means  more 
earnest  endeavor.  It  may  be  that  the  student  will  do  well  ta 
practise  studying  where  there  is  considerable  noise;  not.  that 
the  distraction  helps  the  study  but  that  the  ability  to  study  in 
any  kind  of  a  situation  is  worth  developing  into  a  habit.  The 
ability  of  students  to  study  in  the  old  fashioned  country  school* 
or  even  in  many  schools  now  where  there  is  a  recitation  going 
on,  is  well  worth  remembering.  One  might  say  then,  that  for 
the  best  attention,  one  should  have  slight  distraction;  but  for 
developing  the  habit  of  concentration  one  should  practise 
studying  in  any  and  every  kind  of  a  situation  in  which  one 
finds  oneself. 

Hindrances  to  good  attention:  The  feeling  of  fatigue,  vs. 
fatigue.  Professor  Thorndike  summarizes  a  study  of  mental 
fatigue  as  follows:  "Six  subjects  worked  continuously  from 
three  to  eight  hours  on  the  mental  manipulation  of  one  three- 
place  number  by  another.  Ten  subjects  worked  from  four  to 
twelve  hours  with  pauses  for  meals.  All  subjects  did  from  a 
half-hour's  to  an  hour's  work  on  a  following  day.  Only  three 
out  of  the  sixteen  subjects  did  as  well  at  the  end  of  work  as 
after  rest.  The  greatest  fatigue  effect  came  after  a  work 
period  of  about  five  hours,  the  smallest  (except  in  the  three 
negative  cases)  after  a  work  period  of  almost  nine  hours.  The 
subjects  who  were  most  efficient  and  worked  most  rapidly 
showed  a  smaller  loss  through  fatigue  than  did  the  less  effi- 
cient workers.  Inspection  of  the  records  shows  that  the  re- 
sults are  probably  a  compound  of  a  gradually  decreasing 
practice  effect  with  a  gradually  increasing  fatigue  effect.  There 
seems  to  be  *'little  correlation  between  the  fact  of  fatigue  and 


166  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

the  feeling  of  fatigue*'  (112).  An  excellent  study  of  fatigue 
has  been  made  by  Offner  (72). 

It  is  well  to  understand  the  distinction  between  fatigue  and 
the  feeling  of  fatigue.  Weariness,  or  the  feeling  of  fatigue, 
is  generally  followed  by  a  wandering  of  the  attention  and  a 
general  relaxation  of  effort.  Recent  studies  of  fatigue,  as  the 
above  quotation  indicates,  prove  that  the  feeling  of  fatigue 
can  be  pushed  back  for  an  astonishingly  long  time  and  that 
excellent  work  can  continue  much  longer  than  we  commonly 
suppose.  Laziness  and  habit  probably  account  for  the  un- 
necessarily early  onset  of  weariness  which  is  popularly  con- 
fused with  fatigue  itself.  Fatigue,  let  it  be  remembered,  is 
actual  inefliciency  or  lack  of  ability  for  further  work,  and  it 
is  not  to  be  thought  of  as  synonomous  with  the  feeling  of 
fatigue;  nor  is  the  latter  to  be  considered  a  safe  indication  of 
real  fatigue. 

When  the  feeling  of  fatigue  caused,  perhaps,  as  it  often  is, 
by  nothing  more  than  a  dislike  for  the  work  in  hand,  wears 
off,  one  may  go  on  for  hours  and  do  as  well  as,  or  better  than, 
he  did  before  the  onset  of  the  feeling.  Less  attention  to  feel- 
ings would  be  better  for  most  of  us;  nevertheless,  denial  of 
fatigue  and  disregard  of  weariness  after  a  reasonable  period 
of  study,  is  extreme  and  hazardous;  a  tendency  in  that  direc- 
tion today,  seems  to  indicate  a  misinterpretation  of  the  results 
of  fatigue  experiments  and  a  dangerous  attitude  so  far  as 
health  is  concerned. 

Emotional  and  intellectual  factors.  Needless  to  say  excit- 
ing emotions  disturb  study.  Adolescent  changes  are  correlat- 
ed with  some  retardation  in  school  work.  So  far  as  possible 
these  disturbing  factors  should  be  eliminated  and,  where  this 
is  impossible,  they  should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

Study  is  also  disturbed  by  other  factors  of  a  different  nature. 
Students  are  often  troubled  by  not  knowing  just  what  to  do 
next;  or  by  failing  to  have  clearly  in  mind  just  how  to  proceed. 
This  is  well  illustrated  by  an  incident  that  happened  in  one  of 
our  Minneapolis  schools  a  short  time  ago.  The  teacher  had 
taught  a  lesson  in  arithmetic  and  then  told  the  class  to  do  all 
the  examples  on  a  certain  page  but  to  omit  the  first.  One  boy 
failed  to  get  started  and  finally  the  teacher  went  over  to  him 
and  asked  just  what  the  trouble  was.  At  last  he  admitted: 
"I  don't  know  how  to  omit  the  first."  The  case  may  be  rare 
but  the  kind  of  difficulty  is  typical  of  many  instances  where 
the  mind  wanders. 


ATTENTION  AND  SUSTAINED  EFFORT  167 

Lack  of  technique  and  of  instruments.  Getting  started, 
finding  instruments,  pencil,  pen,  or  what  not,  divert  attention 
and  according  to  Breslich  (11)  ten  to  fifteen  minutes  are  often 
wasted  by  high  school  students  getting  down  to  work.  The 
difficulties  in  the  actual  doing  continually  tend  to  break  up 
sustained  effort.  Again  and  again  one  can  observe  in  the  lab- 
oratory a  student  who  has  not  the  technique,  and  who  fails  or 
does  work  clumsily  and  then  turns  to  watch  someone  else. 

Bad  suggestions  and  failure  to  try.  If  good  suggestions  are 
valuable  to  help  the  student  get  into  a  study  attitude  and  to 
study  with  sustained  effort,  it  is  also  of  importance  that  sug- 
gestions to  listlessness  and  ease  be  eliminated  so  far  as  pos- 
sible. Many  people  fail  to  do  things  merely  because  they  fail 
to  tr>\  And  they  may  fail  to  try  simply  because  of  the  lack  of 
incentive  and  the  presence  of  suggestions  to  ease  and  comfort. 
One  should  not  hesitate  to  get  away  from  the  wrong  sugges- 
tions be  they  places  or  persons,  to  seek  the  stimulating  en- 
vironment and  then  to  try.  To  move  the  lips,  to  take  up  the 
pen,  to  begin  to  say  the  lesson  to  oneself,  if  nothing  more  to 
make  believe  one  is  studying,  may  be  all  that  is  necessary  to 
bring  on  a  study  fit.     (44). 

Self  government  and  sustained  effort.  Responsibility  and 
the  feeling  that  it  is  my  work  are  important  factors  in  conduct. 
In  a  small  high  school,  of  about  60  or  70  students,  there  had 
been  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and  very  poor  discipline.  The 
school  work  had  necessarily  suffered  very  much.  The  diffi- 
culty was  due  partly  to  the  activities  of  a  "gang",  and  partly 
to  the  fact  that  tlie  teachers  had  failed  to  "reach"  or  make  the 
right  appeal  to  the  students. 

Finally  a  young  man  who  believed  in  self  government  was 
made  superintendent.  He  told  the  young  people  that  he  ex- 
pected them  to  govern  themselves.  At  first  chaos  reigned. 
Soon  the  leaders  of  the  gang  called  a  meeting  of  the  entire 
student  body.  A  self  governing  association  was  formed.  To- 
day it  is  one  of  the  best  governed  higli  schools. 

As  one  of  the  students  said:  These  people  who  had  never 
been  interested  in  school  activities,  because  they  thought  the 
teachers  were  running  them,  formed  clubs.  One,  a  literar}^ 
club  which  has  given  some  enjoyable  entertainments,  was  the 
cause  of  a  fine  victrola  being  placed  in  the  assembly  room. 
Another  literary  club  has  established  a  school  paper  which  is 
published  once  a  month.  The  students  have  entire  charge  of 
these  things  and  because  they  feel  that  they  control  the  enter- 


168  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

prises  and  are  responsible,  they  take  great  interest  in  making 
everything  the  best  possible. 

Self  government  aided  by  a  school  paper.  An  eighth  grade 
class  in  one  of  the  public  schools  of  St.  Paul  publishes  a  school 
magazine  every  month.  The  pupils  formerly  had  it  typewrit- 
ten. Now  the  father  of  one  of  the  boys  has  it  printed  for  the 
class.  A  large  portion  of  the  class  are  on  the  staff.  They  have 
some  worth  while  poetry,  a  few  original  essays,  school  news, 
personals,  and  jokes  as  well  as  editorials. 

Through  the  columns  the  children  try  to  enforce  self  govern- 
ment.    They  comment  on  the  fact  that  they  have  "found  two 

boys  who  cannot  be  trusted  out  of  Miss 's  sight."  "Lost, 

some  time  from  study,  because  a  member  of  the  class  acted 
up."  They  state  that  they  want  "brighter  boots  and  smoother 
hair  at  nine  A.  M."  They  also  want  "Less  home  study  for  over 
Saturday,  Sunday,  and  other  holidays."  They  want  their 
room  to  be  "as  nearly  a  perfect  room  as  we  can  make  it."  One 
item  said  that  "A  certain  person  should  worry  more  about  his 
character.  Most  of  us  would  be  ashamed  if  the  reading  teach- 
er had  to  speak  to  us." 

There  are  also  comments  on  good  work  done,  such  as,  "We 

have  all  noticed  how  well  the  boards  look  after has 

washed  them."  Mention  of  those  who  have  done  good  work 
frequently  appears  in  the  editorial  column. 

The  children  do  very  well  in  getting  out  this  little  magazine. 
They  take  great  delight  in  all  the  work  and  do  not  object  to 
writing  essays  or  to  any  task  which  may  be  theirs  to  help  in 
getting  the  material  ready.  They  encourage  the  best  actions 
in  the  school  and  plainly  show  their  disapproval  of  bad  acts." 

A  teacher's  personal  interest,  trust,  and  right  direction  of  a 
boy's  activities.  John  was  a  bright  active  boy  in  the  eighth 
grade.  He  liked  to  "cut  up,"  and  although  not  malicious  was 
a  great  disturbance.  He  was  very  stubborn  and  both  teachers 
and  parents  failed  to  get  him  to  conduct  himself  as  he  should. 
He  often  did  not  realize  the  wrongs  he  did.  He  learned  that 
threats  that  were  made  were  not  carried  out,  and  he  became 
openly  defiant  and  distrustful. 

Finally  he  got  to  high  school  and  entered  a  week  late.  His 
new  teacher  found  out  what  he  wanted  and  made  out  his  pro- 
gram. She  also  made  arrangements  to  meet  him  to  help  him 
make  up  the  work  he  had  lost.  At  the  times  she  met  him  in 
this  way  she  learned  what  John  wanted  to  be  when  he  got 
older.    He  wanted  to  be  a  doctor,  and  she  advised  him  about 


ATTENTION  AND  SUSTAINED  EFFORT  169 

his  course,  told  him  about  the  course  at  the  university  and  how 
hard  it  was  and  how  hard  he  would  have  to  study  to  get 
through  it.  She  also  impressed  him  with  the  necessity  of 
learning  to  study  while  in  high  school  in  order  that  he  might 
be  able  to  do  the  work  when  he  entered  the  university.  She 
paid  little  attention  to  his  pranks  and  drew  his  attention  to 
the  things  he  should  do  and  could  do.  Her  sincere  interest  in 
his  desires  and  ambitions  and  her  confidence  in  him  coupled 
with  her  doing  exactly  what  she  said  she  would,  won  his  re- 
spect and  confidence  in  her.  His  attitude  changed  for  the 
better  and  he  became  an  earnest  student. 

Sharing  in  activities.  Throughout  high  school  a  certain 
class  was  noted  for  its  many  class  "scraps."  It  seemed  im- 
possible for  the  class  to  plan  anything  without  some  group 
making  trouble.  If  one  group  had  charge,  other  members  of 
the  class  would  criticise  the  arrangements.  Groups  formed  so 
that  members  of  one  group  were  continually  at  odds  with 
members  of  other  groups.  During  the  senior  year  a  girl  was 
elected  president  of  the  class  who  solved  the  difficulty  by 
giving  each  individual  some  part  in  arrangements  for  the  class 
activities.  The  first  class  affair  was  a  party  given  by  the  class 
for  the  faculty.  The  president  chose  as  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittees the  girls  who  had  made  trouble;  each  chairman  elect- 
ed his  or  her  own  committee.  By  dividing  the  work  sufficient- 
ly all  of  the  members  of  the  class  had  some  share  and  as  a  re- 
sult no  trouble  arose  and  the  best  party  of  the  four  years  took 
place. 

Pride  and  interest  in  one's  own  achievement.  One  teacher 
was  Ycry  much  interested  in  teaching  nature.  In  order  to  get 
the  class  interested  she  divided  the  class  into  sections  and  gave 
each  section  a  plot  of  ground  for  a  garden.  Each  section  was 
to  tr\'  to  have  the  prettiest  garden  and  to  do  it  without  help. 
Interest  in  the  gardens  was  great  and  competition  keen  as  each 
group  wanted  to  have  the  best  garden.  Each  child  seemed  to 
have  tlie  interest  and  pride  of  ownership  and  of  achievement. 

Appeal  to  sympathy  and  the  sense  of  responsibility.  During 
a  study  of  classroom  methods  by  one  of  my  students,  the  fol- 
lowing example  of  successful  appeal  to  an  unruly  class  was 
discovered.  I  give  it  nearly  in  the  words  of  the  report.  One 
of  the  teachers  of  a  grade  school  in  a  small  town  was  having 
her  first  experience  with  an  unruly  class,  mostly  boys.  She 
tried  every  means  of  correction  of  which  she  could  think  but 
had  failed.     Her  pupils  knew  she  was  inexperienced  so  were 


170  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

"trying  her  out,"  and  from  their  point  of  view,  were  succeed- 
ing admirably.  One  afternoon,  tired  and  discouraged,  she 
decided  to  resort  to  a  last  measure.  When  the  pupils  assem- 
bled after  recess  she  told  them  that  she  felt  so  ill  that  probably 
she  could  not  be  there  the  next  day,  but  that  they  were  to  come 
and  to  try  to  get  a  few  exercises  done  by  themselves.  Also,  if 
they  had  time  and  wanted  to,  they  were  to  make  a  map  which 
she  explained  to  them.  She  stated  that  it  would  please  her  if 
they  would  be  as  quiet  as  possible  and  try  not  to  disturb  the 
other  rooms.  With  this  she  dismissed  the  class  early  and 
went  home  leaving  the  children  with  the  feeling  that  they 
would  be  responsible  for  their  own  actions. 

When  she  returned,  the  exercises  were  written  and  placed 
on  her  desk.  Most  of  the  children  had  finished  maps.  Favor- 
able reports  came  from  the  other  teachers  who  had  been  ask- 
ed not  to  interfere  unless  the  room  got  too  noisy.  During  the 
day  she  had  several  inquiries  concerning  her  health,  and  one 
or  two  of  the  most  "desperate"  boys  even  said  that  they  were 
sorry  that  they  had  caused  her  trouble.  After  that  the  room 
seemed  a  different  place.  Each  student  felt  that  he  was  re- 
sponsible for  any  disturbance  of  the  class  and  there  was  little 
trouble  from  that  time. 

A  position  of  responsibility,  A  certain  young  man  had  been 
at  the  St.  Cloud  Reformatory  in  Minnesota  for  several  years. 
He  was  twenty-two  years  of  age.  On  three  occasions  he  had 
broken  his  parole.  Each  time  he  had  been  caught  and  re- 
turned to  the  institution.  Finally  the  superintendent  thought 
he  saw  possibilities  of  another  kind  in  him  and  made  him 
manager  of  the  dining  room  in  the  reformatory.  A  change 
was  soon  apparent.  The  boy  saw  to  it  that  things  went  on  as 
they  should  in  the  dining  room  and  his  own  conduct  changed 
greatly.  So  well  did  he  succeed  that  he  was  given  his  dis- 
missal from  the  institution  a  year  later. 

Improvement  from  within.  A  fundamental  principle  which 
appears  in  many  studies  is  illustrated  in  the  following  case. 
This  principle  is  one  that  is  not  at  all  new,  but  is  held  alto- 
gether too  much  in  theory  alone.  Not  what  some  outsider 
does  for  a  group,  but  what  the  group  does  for  itself,  is  the  im- 
portant thing.  What  the  group  decides,  what  it  works  for,  it 
values  and  is  ready  to  defend. 

In  one  of  the  schools  of  Minneapolis  where  most  of  the 
children  were  Scandanavian,  there  happened  to  be  a  little 
Italian  boy.    The  children  fell  into  the  habit  of  teasing  him. 


ATTENTION  AND  SUSTAINED  EFFORT  171 

He  was  especially  sensitive  about  his  inability  to  speak  English 
very  well.  The  teasing  continued  until  the  children  had 
worked  him  up  to  the  point  of  chasing  them  with  an  open 
knife  which  he  threatened  to  use  on  them.  After  an  actual 
attempt  to  stab  one  of  the  boys  a  teacher  called  the  children 
together  and  told  them  that  she  thought  they  should  take  up 
the  matter,  have  a  court  and  jury  and  decide  what  should  be 
done. 

A  judge  and  jury  were  chosen  from  among  the  offending 
boys.  The  matter  of  justice  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
jury.  The  tormenters  told  their  story  and  the  Italian  boy  told 
his.  The  jury  decided  that  the  American  citizens  had  placed 
the  foreign  boy  in  a  very  disadvantageous  position  inasmuch 
as  he  knew  the  English  language  but  little.  They  decided  that 
they  had  not  given  him  a  square  deal  and  the  verdict  was,  in 
their  own  words,  "Give  the  dago  a  chance."  A  short  time 
afterwards  the  Italian  boy,  who  had  been  accepted  as  one  of 
the  crowd,  was  making  rapid  progress  in  adapting  to  the  new 
group.  The  boys  had  solved  their  problem  and  the  friction 
disappeared. 

The  direction  of  attention.  What  shall  be  noticed,  remem- 
bered, understood,  and  the  accuracy  and  faithfulness  of 
memory  depend  upon  the  things  that  are  attended  to.  There 
is  the  question  of  the  attitude  of  the  student  and  of  the  pres- 
ence or  absence  of  goal  ideas.  Goal  ideas  may  be  either  use- 
ful or  harmful.  If  one  wishes  to  make  an  exhaustive  study 
of  an  object,  a  reaction  in  chemistry  or  the  anatomy  of  a  tissue, 
definite  ideas  of  what  he  is  to  see  may  too  much  limit  the  at- 
tention and  cause  important  things  to  be  overlooked;  again, 
the  knowledge  of  what  should  appear  aids  in  the  actual  find- 
ing of  wliat  is  expected.  But  again,  and  it  cannot  be  too  much 
emphasized,  the  observer  may  see  or  think  he  sees  things 
which  are  not  there  if  he  only  has  sufficiently  strong  expecta- 
tion of  them. 

Briefly,  economy  is  gained  in  the  discovery  of  things  if  one 
has  definite  ideas  of  what  he  is  looking  for,  which  means  that 
the  field  of  exploration  is  limited  and  attention  is  relieved  of 
much  which  is  beside  the  mark.  But  one  should  never  limit 
the  attention  by  expectation  to  such  an  extent  that  he  cannot 
observe  the  entirely  new,  that  which  has  not  been  imagined  or 
expected,  but  which,  however,  may  be  very  valuable. 

Control  of  action  through  control  of  attention.  A  social 
worker  found  a  group  of  boys  who  were  trying  to  tie  a  tin  can 


172  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

on  a  dog's  tail.  "Boys,"  he  said,  "I  can  show  you  how  to  tie  a 
knot  that  won't  come  untied."  The  boys  gathered  around 
him.  The  knot  was  demonstrated.  "I  can  show  you  the  best 
kind  of  a  knot  for  tying  a  horse  so  that  he  cannot  get  away." 
The  boys  became  very  much  interested  and  the  dog  made  good 
his  escape.  Pieces  of  rope  and  string  were  produced  and  the 
boys  began  to  learn  how  to  tie  different  kinds  of  knots.  The 
dog  was  forgotten  and  they  found  a  new  interest  in  learning 
how  to  do  something  worth  while. 

The  directing  of  native  tendencies.  An  excellent  illustra- 
tion of  the  result  of  good  leadership  and  the  utilizing  of  native 
tendencies  was  reported  to  me  as  follows :  "In  Litchfield, 
Minn.,  there  was  at  one  time  a  crowd  of  boys,  from  fifteen  to 
eighteen  years  of  age,  who,  though  not  bad,  were  a  cause  of 
many  great  annoyances  to  the  town.  They  were  not  really 
bad,  but  extremely  mischievious.  There  came  to  the  town  a 
new  Methodist  minister.  Though  not  particularly  successful 
as  a  preacher,  he  liked  boys  and  knew  how  to  manage  them. 
In  a  short  time  he  had  organized  these  boys  into  an  athletic 
association,  organized  in  the  first  place,  merely  for  play  and 
games,  but  rapidly  it  became  a  club  for  organized  athletics. 
The  Y.  M.  A.  C,  or  Young  Men's  Athletic  Club,  as  it  was  called 
began  to  talk  over  the  town  affairs,  social  work  and  politics, 
as  they  heard  the  older  men  talk.  When  state  elections  came 
they  were  as  interested  in  the  outcome  as  were  their  fathers. 
As  soon  as  they  were  well  organized,  the  minister  stepped  out 
of  the  executive  staff  and  allowed  the  boys  to  govern  them- 
selves entirely,  coming  to  him  only  for  advice  as  they  wished 
it. 

As  their  interest  in  the  club  grew,  their  interest  in  the  town's 
welfare  grew,  and  they  became  a  potent  factor  in  maintaining 
order  in  Litchfield.  An  ordinance  had  been  passed  that  no 
storekeeper  could  have  sign  boards  or  advertisements  of  any 
kind  out  on  the  side  walks  cluttering  up  the  streets.  When- 
ever the  boys  saw  any  such  advertisements,  they  reported  the 
storekeepers  to  the  town  authorities.  At  home  they  had  heard 
their  mothers  talk  of  the  uncleanliness  of  having  fruit,  etc.,  on 
open  stands  in  front  of  fruit  stores.  The  boys  took  the  matter 
in  hand  and  fairly  boycotted  one  Greek  who  insisted  on  keep- 
ing fruit  uncovered.  They  carried  their  protests  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  authorities  finally  took  it  up  and  issued  an 
ordinance  prohibiting  food  to  be  displayed  on  uncovered 
stands. 


I 


ATTENTION  AND  SUSTAINED  EFFORT  173 

The  loyalty  of  the  boys  to  one  another  and  the  harmony  and 
/est  with  which  they  worked  under  their  sixteen  year  old 
president  was  a  marvel  to  the  inhabitants.  Although  they 
joked  at  a  club  for  such  young  boys,  they  soon  found  them- 

Ives  and  their  town  greatly  benefitted  by  the  work  of  the 
rganization." 

The  value  of  a  purpose.  Meumann,  in  his  book.  The  Psy- 
(  hology  of  Learning,  says  that  having  a  purpose  seems  to  make 
for  better  and  easier  accomplishment.  From  the  laboratory 
to  everyday  life  the  ability  to  Connect  a  smaller  work  with 
some  larger  purpose  makes  it  easier  to  do  and  seems  to  bring 
better  results.  So  much  is  this  so  that  he  concludes  that  there 
is  here  a  universal  law  of  mind. 

A  boy  may  fail  in  school,  but  if  he  has  a  purpose,  may  make 
I  great  success  in  life;  or  your  honor  student,  lacking  a  pur- 
pose and  determination,  may  go  down  in  failure  in  later  years. 
Purpose  and  determination  turn  failure  into  success,  and  the 
world  is  a  place  in  which  men  wrest  victory  from  defeat.  It 
is  often  noted  as  students  go  on  into  high  school  and  into  col- 
lege that,  as  they  acquire  a  purpose,  their  work  shows  a  cor- 
responding improvement.  Why  is  it  that  many  students,  as 
they  begin  their  professional  work  show  the  ability  to  do  a 
quality  of  work  that  they  have  never  before  shown?  Partly 
because  of  higher  requirements.  But  it  is  safe  to  assert  that, 
for  a  very  larger  number,  the  improvement  is  due  to  the  de- 
veloping of  a  definite  aim,  purpose,  determination.  A  recent 
research  gives  results  of  recall  with  and  without  determination 
to  recall;  and  shows  that  the  presence  of  determination  to  re- 
call mav  improve  the  actual  recall  by  as  much  as  147  per 
cent.     (70). 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  If  education  may  begin  with  the  pleasant  and  interesting 
and  easy,  why  should  it  not  end  with  these?  Show  fully  and 
carefully  what  more  is  necessary  and  why. 

2.  How  does  the  psychology  of  attention  show  the  "higher 
results"  that  should  be  obtained  through  education? 

3.  Explain  the  need  of  attention  for  all  learning  of  what- 
soever kind. 

4.  Give  examples  to  show  how  you  would  get  each  of  the 
three  kinds  or  stages  of  attention. 


174  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

5.  How  far  does  the  control  of  attention  settle  the  problem 
of  discipline  and  of  better  school  work? 

6.  Compare  the  results  of  teaching  in  the  abstract  and  in 
the  concrete.     Take  examples  from  your  own  experience. 

7.  Is  it  right  to  say,  in  teaching  always  begin  with  the  con- 
crete and  end  with  the  abstract? 

8.  Do  you  think  that  the  school  provides  sufficiently  for 
training  students  to  do  long  and  arduous  tasks?     Discuss  this. 

9.  Discuss  the  problem  of  interest  in  connection  with 
school  work.  How  can  the  teacher  obtain  it?  How  can  he 
teach  the  student  to  obtain  it? 

10.  Cite  some  examples  in  your  experience  where  sustain- 
ed effort  was  brought  about,  1)  by  arousing  interest,  2)  by  co- 
ercion. 

11.  Explain  the  value  of  getting  continued  attention  and 
effort  of  a  group  by  helping  it  to  make  changes  from  within 
the  group  rather  than  because  of  coercion  from  without. 

12.  How  far  can  one  control  attention  and  thereby  action 
by  arousing  ideas  and  purposes? 

REFERENCES. 
Bagley,  W.  C.     Classroom  Management.     The  Macmillan  Co.   1907, 
Chs.  9,  10,  11  and  12. 
James,  W.     The  Energies  of  Men.     Psychol.  Rev.,  Vol.  16,  1907,  1,  ff. 
Swift,  E.  J.     Youth  and  the  Race.     Ch.  Scribners,  1912. 


Chapter  14. 
FEELING  HABITS  AND  MORAL  EDUCATION. 

Habit  extends  to  feeling.  The  instability  that  we  common- 
ly note  in  the  life  of  the  feelings  may  often  lead  us  to  doubt 
whether  or  not  there  is  anything  permanent  in  connection 
with  our  feelings.  We  are  pleased  with  one  thing  one  day 
and  displeased  with  it  the  next.  Something  has  satisfied  us 
for  weeks,  but  all  of  a  sudden  we  decide  that  we  are  tired  of  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  find  ourselves  saying  that  old  friends 
are  best.  We  turn  back  to  the  old  accustomed  authors  and 
delight  in  the  music  with  which  we  are  familiar.  In  the  emer- 
gencies of  life  we  fall  back  upon  the  old  customs  and  the  old 
beliefs.  In  fact,  when  we  depend  upon  what  we  consider  the 
stability  of  a  man's  character  we  depend  upon  what  we  believe 
or  know  to  be  his  habitual  way  of  acting  in  terms  of  certain 
sentiments  of  right  and  justice,  etc.  When  we  plan  enter- 
tainments for  our  friends  we  plan  in  terms  of  what  we  know 
they  like  and  are  interested  in. 

In  the  education  of  our  children  we  are  certainly  hoping 
that  we  shall  succeed  in  getting  them  to  like  and  be  satisfied 
only  with  certain  worthy  and  acceptable  things  and  actions; 
and  that  they  shall  dislike  and  be  dissatisfied  with  certain 
other  unworthy  and  unacceptable  things  and  actions.  We  hope 
that  noble  desires  will  become  permanent,  and  ignoble  desires 
will  die  out.  Perhaps  nowhere  do  our  feeling  habits  appear 
more  strikingly  ingrained  than  in  some  such  case  as  the  way 
in  which  we  like  a  certain  chair,  or  place  to  read  or  study,  or 
certain  of  our  old  haunts;  or  in  what  we  term  cravings,  such 
as  the  craving  for  strong  drink  or  tobacco,  or  the  symphony 
if  we  have  been  accustomed  to  it  and  are  deprived  of  it  for  a 
year  or  two. 

In  the  extremity  we  fly  to  the  old  beliefs.  Through  life  we 
have  the  same  old  illogical  fears  that  were  implanted  in  child- 
hood. One  child  gets  into  the  habit  of  flying  into  a  rage  if 
things  cross  him;  it  may  be  the  severest  struggle  of  adult  life 
to  control  this  habit  and  not  fly  into  a  rage.  Another  child  is 
taught  to  be  good  natured  and  smile  when  he  desires  anything 
from  his  parents.     It  becomes  the  habit  of  his  life.     The  child 

175 


176  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

cares  little  for  the  classical  music  or  literature  but  he  hears  it 
at  home  and  at  school.  He  may  tire  of  it.  Repetition  may 
make  him  weary  of  it.  But  there  is  implanted  in  him  an  ap- 
petite, perhaps,  a  craving  for  it,  which  is  a  permanent  acquis- 
ition. 

The  opposing  tendencies.  Here  we  seem  to  have  a  contra- 
diction; repetition  blunts  feelings  but  it  also  develops  per- 
manent desires,  appetites,  cravings,  and  the  like.  Sully  has 
told  us  in  this  connection:  "Our  permanent  surroundings  and 
manner  of  life  tend  to  grow  indifferent,  that  is,  to  lose  all  or 
most  of  their  affective  concomitants.  This  applies  at  once  to 
our  pleasures  and  to  our  pains.  Thus  we  get  used,  that  is, 
comparatively  indifferent,  to  surroundings,  companions,  lines 
of  activity,  which,  when  they  were  new,  were  highly  enjoy- 
able, or,  on  the  other  hand,  particularly  agreeable."  But,  also, 
Sully  writes:  "The  process  of  organic  adjustment  or  accommo- 
dation just  referred  to  is  less  simple  than  we  have  supposed. 
Exercise  tends  to  strengthen  an  organ,  and  is  one  main  con- 
dition of  organic  growth.  One  important  result  of  this  is  that 
stimuli,  which  were  at  first  fatiguing  and  so  painful,  may  with 
repeated  application  become  pleasurable.  Thus  an  amount 
of  muscle-work  or  brain-work,  which  is  at  first  unpleasant, 
may  with  increase  of  functional  power  become  enjoyable. 
Another  effect  tending  to  disguise  the  general  decay  of  feeling 
is  due  to  its  increasing  complication  as  experience  advances 
and  associations  form  themselves.  In  this  way  our  friends, 
our  books,  and  so  forth,  though  losing  some  of  their  pristine 
charm,  become  endeared  by  associations.  The  action  of  as- 
sociation leads  on  to  the  influence  of  Habit  in  the  domain  of 
feeling.  What  remains  with  us,  what  we  habitually  see,  and 
habitually  do,  while  it  loses  its  keen  pleasurableness,  gener- 
ates through  habit  an  attachment  or  clinging  of  mind  which 
betrays  itself  whenever  it  is  removed.  Jennie  Deans,  feeling 
strange  and  lost  in  her  London  surroundings,  and  longing  to 
get  back  to  her  familiar  scenes,  is  an  example  of  this  effect. 
Every  sudden  rupture  in  our  experience,  as  the  loss  of  a  famil- 
iar friend,  shows  the  same  force  of  custom  in  producing  an 
attachment  of  mind.  Here,  then,  we  have  an  effect  precisely 
the  reverse  of  blunting.  The  older  and  more  fixed  the  habit, 
the  harder  is  it  to  bear  the  sundering  of  the  bond.  Habit  is 
thus  a  fertile  source  of  negative  pains,  or  the  pains  of  craving, 
a  source  which  grows  more  prolific  as  life  advances."  (103). 
Thus  we  see  as  Sully  says  in  summary,  "the  principle  of  habit. 


I 


FEELING  HABITS  AND  MORAL  EDUCATION  177 

which,  though  it  tends,  as  we  have  seen  to  dull  feeling,  tends 
also  indirectly  to  fix  and  further  it  by  strengthening  the  dis- 
position to  the  appropriate  motor  reaction.  A  child  who  is 
nllowed  to  fall  again  and  again  into  the  mental  and  bodily 
attitude  of  anger  contracts  a  stronger  organic  disposition  to 
react  in  this  way,  a  fact  clearly  seen  in  the  greater  rapidity  of 
the  outburst,  and  in  the  diminished  strength  of  the  stimulus 
requisite  for  calling  it  forth."     (104). 

Permanence  in  connection  with  the  feelings.  The  habitual 
in  the  world  of  feeling  is  indicated  also  in  the  following  quo- 
tation from  Professor  Titchener:  "The  name  of  passion  is  also 
^iven  to  any  abiding  interest,  to  any  mode  of  strong  emotive 
response  that  is  specific  and  lasting.  We  say  that  a  man  has 
a  passion  for  success,  for  science,  for  gambling;  and  we  mean 
that  a  situation  which  shows  any  sort  of  reference  to  these 
things  will  appeal  to  him,  dominatingly  and  one-sidedly, 
through  that  reference."  (119).  Whatever  we  shall  call 
these  permanent  or  relatively  permanent  acquisitions  in  the 
world  of  feeling,  we  mean  just  these  things  that  are  called 
permanent  interests,  or  cravings,  or  passions  or  sentiments; 
or  such  things  as  Titchener  mentions  when  he  says:  "Other 
current  usage  identifies  sentiment  with  what  we  have  called 
passion  (in  the  second  sense),  z.  e.,  with  such  things  as  love  of 
power,  of  fame,  or  economy,  of  cleanliness;  hatred  of  injus- 
tice, of  oppression,  of  affectation;  devotion  to  science,  or  art 
or  religion.  It  seems,  however,  more  natural  to  speak  of  a 
passion  for  cleanliness,  a  passion  for  order,  a  passion  for  jus- 
tice, a  passion  for  old  furniture,  than  to  name  these  affective 
dispositions  'sentiments.' " 

Feelings  and  action.  The  important  thing  in  connection 
with  all  this  is  that  the  student  in  the  course  of  his  education 
does  acquire  those  tendencies  to  desire,  crave,  need,  whatever 
you  would  call  it,  the  things  that  are  desirable,  and  to  act  so  as 
to  obtain  them.  Feelings  and  action  of  the  appropriate  kind 
should  go  together.  And  they  should  continue  to  act  together 
as  permanent  tendencies.  The  feeling  should  not  habitually 
fritter  off  and  nothing  come  of  it.  To  have  the  feeling  alone 
would  only  be  a  luxury,  and  perhaps,  as  Thorndike  says,  a 
vice. 

From  the  practical  point  of  view,  we  will  lose  nothing  if  we 
talk  in  the  everyday  forms  of  speech  and  imply  that  the  feel- 
ings actually  bring  about  actions.  We  can  remember  that 
they  probably  do  not  bring  about  the  action,  but  that  their 


178  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

presence  indicates  certain  dispositions  and  that  the  casual 
links  lie  wholly  in  the  nervous  system. 

The  feelings  dependent  upon  action.  The  actions  are  not 
so  much  the  result  of  feelings,  as  the  feelings  are  the  result  of 
actions.  We  accordingly  find,  granting  the  great  influence  of 
heredity,  of  course,  that  our  actions  settle  for  us  our  disposi- 
tions for  this  or  that  kind  of  activity.  We  act  kindly,  merci- 
fully, justly,  charitably,  and  we  find  the  ideals  of  these  things 
and  the  dispositions  for  them  growing  strong  within  us.  We 
also  find  that  these  things  satisfy  us  and  the  lack  of  them  dis- 
satisfies us.  Not  only  has  our  living  in  a  certain  way  devel- 
oped our  likes  for  this  way  of  living,  but  it  has  also  developed 
our  dislikes  for  other  ways,  or  ways  that  conflict  with  this.  We 
have  indicated  here  one  of  the  fundamental  things  of  which 
the  educator  must  take  advantage  in  developing  the  feeling 
habits  of  pupils.  Get  him  to  act  so  that  he  will  have  the  right 
feelings.  Do  not  merely  arouse  the  feeling.  What  one  feels 
may  be  enjoyed  merely  as  so  much  pleasure.  One  may  have 
a  thrill  and  wait  expectantly  for  the  next  thrill,  and  the  enjoy- 
ing of  the  thrill  be  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  matter.  On 
the  other  hand  what  we  do  we  come  to  like;  what  we  do  we 
tend  to  think  of  as  our  activity  with  the  emphasis  on  'our'  and 
for  that  reason  we  are  likely  to  defend  it.  Furthermore,  the 
acting  makes  it  a  part  of  our  nervous  system. 

Associations.  The  second  great  means  of  developing  dis- 
positions for  things  and  activities  lies  in  the  associations  that 
are  or  may  be  formed.  Perhaps  more  than  anything  else,  the 
reason  that  we  like  our  native  land,  our  own  state,  our  own 
group,  lies  in  the  associations  we  have  with  them.  You  love 
one  state  and  think  of  the  sleigh  rides,  the  skating,  the  canoe- 
ing, the  friends,  the  weekend  parties.  I  love  another  state  and 
think  of  the  same  associations  I  have  with  that  state.  One 
man  likes  literature  and  you  find  thgt  he  has  had  pleasant  as- 
sociations with  the  literature  that  he  has  studied.  Another 
dislikes  literature  and  you  may  find  that  he  had  unpleasant 
associations  with  it.  Yes,  you  say,  but  it  may  be  an  hereditary 
difference.  One  is  born  to  like  one  kind  of  thing  and  another 
to  like  something  quite  different.  Yes,  that  is  so.  But  it  is 
only  part  of  the  truth.  One  man  tells  that  he  disliked  a  cer- 
tain subject  until  he  had  a  certain  teacher  and  forever  after 
he  enjoyed  that  subject.  That  is  a  matter  of  education  and 
not  of  heredity.  And  it  is  a  matter  of  associations.  Even  the 
disagreeable  things  of  life  conform  to  these  laws.     The  busi- 


FEELING  HABITS  AND  MORAL  EDUCATION  179 

ness  man  ma}'  dislike  his  work  but  finally  it  becomes  a  neces- 
sity to  his  life.  So  the  business  man  spends  two  weeks  on  a 
vacation  and  is  glad  to  return  again  to  his  regular  work.  Many 
a  man  has  retired  from  business  and  discovered  that  he  was 
unhappy  and  discontented  without  the  associations  and  activi- 
ties to  which  he  had  through  long  years  become  accustomed. 

The  development  of  interests.  It  is  likely  that  we  consider 
our  interests  to  be  more  intellectual  than  our  passions.  If  a 
man  has  an  interest  in  a  subject,  he  is  correctly  supposed  to 
desire  to  attend  to  and  think  about  it,  to  indulge  himself  in  it 
consciously,  not  merely  to  satisfy  a  craving.  "The  secret  of 
education,"  wrote  Adam  Smith,  "is  to  direct  vanity  to  proper 
objects."  (89).  Radestock  tells  us:  "The  celebrated  peda- 
gogue, T.  Ziller,  studied  the  importance  of  interest  very  min- 
utel}',  and  declares  that  instruction  must  particularly  awaken 
and  develop  a  wide  and  many  sided  interest  in  the  objects 
taught  and  the  mental  labor,  while  the  separate  particles  re- 
ceived may  occasionally,  without  harm,  fall  a  prey  to  forget- 
fulness.  It  is  this  wide  and  various  interest  that  distinguishes 
the  truly  educated  and  mentally  active  person;  and  the  in- 
creased interest  in  separate  subjects  causes  him  to  be  saved 
from  distraction,  notwithstanding  a  generous  education,  and 
enables  him  to  use  his  concentrated  efforts  in  separate  fields.'* 
(84). 

I  have  often  asked  teachers  which  they  would  prefer  their 
students  to  get  from  a  course  if  they  could  get  only  one  of  two 
things,  information  on  the  one  hand,  or  on  the  other,  interest 
and  a  desire  for  more  of  the  subject.  The  answer  has  always 
been  interest  and  a  desire  for  more.  Fortunately  one  cannot 
teach  a  pupil  anything  so  as  to  arouse  an  interest  in  it  without 
also  having  information,  be  it  6ver  so  little,  as  part  of  the  re- 
sult. Part  of  the  work  of  a  teacher  in  any  teaching  is  to  in- 
spire the  pupil,  to  interest  him,  to  arouse  him,  so  that  he  will 
w^ant  more,  so  that  he  will  have  an  abiding  interest  in  the 
subject. 

Making  interests  permanent.  We  have  already  (chapter 
12)  mentioned  factors  that  may  help  to  arouse  interest  and 
found  a  goodly  number:  appeal  to  instincts,  pleasant  intro- 
duction, pleasant  activity  in  connection  with  the  subject,  com- 
petition, suggestion,  arousal  of  feelings  of  value,  or  purpose, 
use  of  the  definite  and  concrete,  and  the  like.  These  may  help 
temporarily.  That  is  good.  The  greater  work  is  that  of 
which  we  have  just  spoken,  that  of  making  the  interests  per- 


180  PRI^ICIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

manent;  and  this  is  to  be  done  above  all  else  by  means  of  repe- 
titions and  associations.  The  introduction  of  the  pupils  to  a 
subject  or  activity  may  be  pleasant,  interesting,  and  perhaps 
easy  at  the  outset,  but  this  is  not  enough  if  the  pupil  is  to  be 
developed  to  his  highest  power.  He  must  go  to  effort  which 
is  not  so  pleasant.  And  the  repetitions,  the  self  activity,  the 
many  associations  with  hard  work  are  the  things  which  may 
be  hoped  to  bring  him  through  so  that  he  will  be  a  man  of 
concentration  and  of  sustained  effort  to  long  and  arduous 
tasks. 

The  individual  should  also  see  so  far  as  possible  some  re- 
turns for  his  labors  or  be  made  to  realize  that  there  will  be 
returns  of  sufficient  value.  There  is  a  much  better  attitude  in 
work  where  the  pupil  realizes  the  value  of  the  work  to  him- 
self. 

Other  emotional  tendencies.  This  right  tilt,  so  to  speak, 
given  to  the  individual,  and  kept  up,  so  that  the  desire,  crav- 
ing, whatever  it  becomes,  be  a  permanent  thing,  is  necessary 
for  the  many  affective  responses  of  life.  That  we  have  appre- 
ciation, sympathy,  harmless  enjoyment,  the  gentler  emotions, 
all  of  those  tendencies  of  which  we  can  think,  towards  clean- 
liness, neatness,  politeness,  unselfishness,  as  well  as  those  of  a 
more  courageous  sort,  self-control,  diligence,  endurance,  and 
all  of  those  finer  feelings  for  the  beautiful,  for  humor,  awe, 
reverence,  and  the  like,  necessitates  that  the  individual  have 
an  insight  into  them,  have  the  feeling  for  them  and  continue 
to  live  in  such  a  way  that  they  become  a  part  of  his  life  and  a 
necessary  part  of  his  life.  That  is,  he  should  so  live,  feel, 
think,  and  do,  that  these  responses  are  necessary  to  give  him 
satisfaction;  and  the  absence  of  them,  or  the  opposite  kind  of 
things,  give  him  dissatisfaction. 

Imitation.  Here,  perhaps,  more  than  anywhere  else  in  the 
realm  of  education  we  have  need  for  the  best  to  imitate.  In- 
stinctive as  it  is  for  the  child  to  imitate,  it  is  one  of  the  com- 
monest things  for  him  to  imitate  the  likes  and  dislikes  of  those 
around  him,  or  more  accurately,  to  imitate  their  actions  and 
thus  to  acquire  certain  likes  and  dislikes.  The  best  actions, 
and  objects,  the  acceptable  models,  should  be  the  material  for 
his  imitation,  and  his  feelings  will  grow  through  his  imitation 
whether  he  is  conscious  or  not.  To  have  a  finer  appreciation 
of  the  best  things  in  music,  art,  literature,  the  child  must  live 
in  the  presence  of  them.  What  he  comes  to  like  will  be  very 
largely  that  to  which  he  has  become  accustomed. 


FEELING  HABITS  AND  MORAL  EDUCATION  181 

Moral  education.  The  consideration  of  these  permanent 
tendencies  in  the  life  of  feeling  leads  us  naturally  to  the  prob- 
lem of  moral  education.  Out  of  all  the  thinking,  feeling,  and 
doing  of  the  child  should  grow  the  ideals  of  right  living,  which 
themselves  should  be  permanent  possessions  and  should  then 
fmd  expression  in  the  will  of  the  moral  individual. 

Will  in  moral  training.  "...  Will,  taken  in  a  psychol- 
ogical and  not  in  a  moral  sense,  is  simply  the  general  name  for 
the  sum  total  of  tendencies,  inherited  and  acquired,  that  de- 
termine our  actions;  and  we  distinguish  different  types  of 
will,  according  as  these  tendencies  are  so  deep-seated  and 
persistent  that  he  attains  his  end,  or  at  any  rate  continues  to 
strive  towards  it,  however  remote  it  may  be  and  however 
numerous  the  counter-suggestions  that  oppose  it;  and  the  man 
of  weak  will  is  one  whose  tendencies  are  so  instable  that  he  is 
at  the  mercy  of  every  fresh  suggestion  that  comes.  James  re- 
marks that,  when  the  will  is  healthy,  action  follows,  neither 
too  slowly  nor  too  rapidly,  as  the  resultant  of  all  the  forces 
engaged;  whereas,  when  it  is  unhealthy,  action  is  either  ex- 
plosive or  obstructed:  the  mercurial  or  daredevil,  tempera- 
ment shows  an  explosive  will,  'discharging  so  promptly  into 
movements  that  inhibitions  get  no  time  to  arise';  and  the  limp 
characters,  the  failures,  sentimentalists,  drunkards,  schemers, 
show  the  obstructed  will,  in  which  'impulsion  is  insufficient  or 
inhibition  is  in  excess.'  " 

The  important  thing  in  this  connection  is  that  our  decisions 
and  actions  in  accordance  with  the  proper  ideals  become  hab- 
itual. The  moral  man  is  the  one  who  habitually  makes  his 
decision  in  terms  of  his  ideals  of  right,  or  who  acts  in  accord- 
ance with  those  ideals  without  even  having  to  think  and  make 
a  decision. 

Moral  habits  largely  those  of  the  second  type.  Moral  habits 
are  largely  those  of  the  second  type,  that  is,  those  whose  action 
is  in  terms  of  some  general  form  of  action,  or  in  accordance 
with  some  ideal.  Obviously  in  moral  action  there  must  often 
be  considerable  reflection  in  order  to  decide  just  what  is  right, 
just  how  one  should  act  to  be  most  just,  etc.  All  of  our  gen- 
eral tendencies  to  be  punctual,  kind,  merciful,  helpful,  involve 
or  may  involve  some  conscious  direction.  What  the  teacher 
desires  is  that  the  tendency  to  act  in  the  appropriate  way  is 
present  and  ready  to  act  promptly,  surely,  and  effectively,  no 
matter  what  the  obstacles,  and  that  the  permanent  tendency 
is  so  strong  that  all  it  needs  is   to  be   released   and   directed. 


182  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

This  recalls  what  we  have  already  said  about  habitude,  or 
habitual  attitude.     (105). 

Moral  education  in  our  schools.  It  has  not  been  our  pur- 
pose to  go  into  the  many  and  difficult  problems  of  moral  edu- 
cation, but  rather  to  show  how  certain  essential  factors  enter 
into  the  making  of  permanent  affective  and  moral  tendencies. 
Reference  to  a  recent  article  as  to  the  problem  in  connection 
with  our  public  schools  may  perhaps  appropriately  conclude 
what  we  have  to  say  on  the  subject  in  this  connection.  This 
article  is  by  Professor  Drake  of  Vassar  College,  who  tells  that 
moral  development  depends  partly,  to  be  sure,  on  physical 
heredity.  Poor  constitution,  mental  defects,  pathological  con- 
ditions, and  the  like,  are  unfavorable  for  high  moral  develop- 
ment. Eugenics  may  do  much  in  helping  to  stop  the  repro- 
duction of  defectives  in  whom  moral  and,  perhaps,  all  other 
kinds  of  development  are  limited.  But  the  problem  depends 
mostly  upon  social  heredity  or  education.  "Morality,"  he 
writes,  "is  something  acquired  by  each  generation,  and  not 
something  transmitted  by  parents  to  offspring;  we  can  greatly 
facilitate  its  acquisition.  Morality  is  functional,  not  organic; 
it  results  from  the  way  we  use  our  powers  and  direct  our  in- 
stincts, not  from  their  inherent  nature.  But  we  are  not  trying 
on  any  large  and  systematic  scale  to  provide  competent  train- 
ing in  the  art  of  life  for  our  youth.  We  employ  experts  to 
teach  them  Latin  and  mathematics;  we  see  to  it  that  they  know 
how  to  build  bridges  properly  if  they  are  to  be  engineers,  or 
fill  teeth  properly,  if  they  are  to  be  dentists.  But  we  leave  the 
most  important  training  of  all,  the  training  that  shall  show 
them  how  to  guide  their  desires  and  instincts,  how  to  avoid 
the  snares  and  pitfalls  of  life,  how  to  be  steadily  and  honor- 
ably happy,  to  the  haphazard  attention  of  parents,  who  are 
for  the  most  part  themselves  ill-trained  and  ignorant  of  how 
to  live.  We  need  not  despair  of  the  efficacy  of  moral  training, 
for  we  have  hardly  begun  to  try  it. 

Our  educational  system  is  fairly  good  on  its  inform- 
ative side,  and  in  the  mental  drill  it  provides.  But  in  its  moral 
training  it  is  inexcusably  deficient.  What  if  our  school  super- 
intendents and  college  presidents  were  to  recognize  that  the 
prime  function  of  education  were  to  discuss  concrete  prob- 
lems of  conduct,  and  to  quicken  conscience,  by  the  many 
methods  known  to  skillful  educators?  It  could  then  turn 
multitudes  of  boys  and  girls  trained  to  a  code,  as  knights  were 
trained  in  former  days  to  courage  and  chastity  and  the  service 


FEELING  HABITS  AND  MORAL  EDUCATION  183 

of  the  weak.  What  if  loyalty  to  school  and  college  were  to 
come  to  mean  primarily  loyalty  to  that  code;  so  that  for  a 
Harvard  man  anywhere  to  be  detected  in  lying  would  be 
shame  to  that  college,  or  for  a  Yale  man  to  use  unfair  methods 
in  business  would  be  to  make  his  classmates  blush  and  brand 
him  as  untrue  to  his  alma  mater?  In  this  moral  edu- 
cation, rather  than  in  eugenics,  lies  our  real  hope  for  the  rais- 
ing of  the  general  standards  of  moral  conduct."     (22). 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  Show  how  there  are  both  instability  and  stability  in  the 
life  of  the  feelings. 

2.  What  has  the  teacher  to  do  with  the  development  of 
permanent  cravings,  needs,  passions,  appreciations,  feeling  or 
emotional  dispositions? 

3.  How  would  you  go  about  developing  a  passion  for 
literature,  or  art,  or  science  in  yourself,  and  in  a  student? 

4.  What  do  you  mean  by  the  higher  sentiments  and  what 
has  the  teacher  to  do  in  connection  with  them? 

5.  Compare  the  value  of  permanent  acquisitions  in  the 
realm  of  the  feelings  and  in  the  realm  of  the  intellect. 

6.  What  parts  do  thinking,  feeling  and  doing  have  in  the 
moral  education  of  the  individual? 

7.  What  are  the  relative  values  of  precept,  examples,  and 
practice  in  moral  education? 

8.  Distinguish  the  idea  of  the  will  as  some  kind  of  a  special 
power  of  the  mind  with  the  view  given  in  this  book. 

9.  What  can  you  say  about  the  need  of  and  means  of  moral 
education  in  our  schools? 

REFERENCES. 

1.  Dewey,  J.  Moral  Principles  in  Education,  Boston,  Houghton, 
Mifflin  Co,  1909. 

2.  Payot,  J.  The  Education  of  the  Will:  The  Theory  and  Practice 
of  Self  Culture,     Tr.  by  S.  E.  Jelliffe.     Funk  and  Wagnalls,  1909. 

3.  Sneath,  E.  H.  and  Hodges,  G.  Moral  Training  in  the  School 
and  Home,  The  M'acmillan  Co.,  1913.  Also  other  books  in  The  Golden 
Rule  Series,  by  the  same  authors  and  E.  L.  Stevens. 


Chapter  15. 
PHYSIOLOGICAL  AND  PHYSICAL  CONDITIONS. 

Dependence  of  mind  on  body.  We  have  come  to  realize 
that  without  ideals,  purpose,  determination,  one  is  not  likely 
to  accomplish  what  he  could  with  them.  Or,  again,  without 
improvement  in  methods  of  doing  things  we  cannot  do  them 
most  economically.  But,  also  bodily  conditions  and  the  in- 
fluence of  environment  are  so  vital  that  we  must  see  that  they 
are  the  best  possible. 

We  do  not  have  far  to  go  to  find  evidences  of  the  dependence 
of  mind  on  body.  A  blow  on  the  head  may  make  one  uncon- 
scious; failing  health  often  makes  it  impossible  for  one  to  do 
good  mental  work;  one  may  notice  his  memory  failing  in  sick- 
ness and  returning  to  normal  activity  with  the  return  to 
health;  drugs  often  interfere  with  mental  processes  or  may 
render  one  unconscious;  adenoids  and  defects  of  the  various 
senses  all  have  their  various  effects  on  intellectual  work. 

The  argument  that  great  people  have  sometimes  had  marked 
physical  defects,  or  that  people  have  done  great  things  even 
though  they  had  serious  bodily  deficiencies  does  not  in  any 
wise  prove  that  the  defects  made  no  difference  and  were  un- 
important. The  defects  very  likely  impeded  the  endeavors 
of  these  and  other  people  who  may  have  had  them.  On  the 
other  hand  the  defects  may  have  had  the  effect  of  provoking 
them  to  greater  effort. 

The  fact  is  that  there  appears  to  be  a  positive  correlation 
between  physical  defects  and  failure  of  normal  progress  in 
our  schools.  It  is  reported  that  children  in  New  York  City 
schools  who  have  had  physical  defects  make  8.8  per  cent,  less 
progress  than  the  normal  children. 

Special  defects.  Dr.  W.  S.  Cornell,  (18),  in  his  Health  and 
Medical  Inspection  of  School  Children,  writes  that  except  for 
poor  nutrition,  defective  hearing  in  moderate  degree  is  the 
most  powerful  retarding  influence  encountered  by  school 
children.  The  results  of  defective  hearing  induce  defective 
scholarship  in  general  (See  Figs.  14  and  15)  and  defective 
speech  in  particular.     Dullness,  smaller  head,  and  inferior 

184 


PHYSICAL  AND  PHYSIOLOGICAL  CONDITIONS 


185 


strength  of  grip  are  said  to  be  correlated  with  defective 
hearing. 

A  simple  operation  may  remove  wax  or  some  foreign  body 
from  the  ear  and  permit  a  child  to  hear  who  had  not  been  able 
to  hear  before.  The  writer  learned  of  a  case  recently  where  a 
girl  by  such  a  simple  operation  w^as  able  to  hear  distinctly  for 
the  first  time,  in  at  least  a  good  many  years.  She  informed 
her  mother,  "I  can  hear  what  the  teacher  says  now;  I  can  hear 
the  clock  tick."  The  disposition  of  the  child  changed  notice- 
ably also.  She  had  been  disagreeable  and  difficult  to  manage; 
after  the  operation  this  changed  and  she  was  very  distinctly 
more  agreeable  and  tractable  and  was  much  more  willing  to 
do  what  her  parents  asWed; — perhaps,  she  knew  for  the  first 
time  with  some  degree  of  clearness  just  what  they  wanted. 
For  a  comparison  of  results  of  an  experiment  comparing 
hearing  and  deaf  children,  see  Figs.  14  and  15. 

Eye  difficulties  have  interfered  with  study  to  an  extremely 
large  degree.  It  has  been  estimated  that  perhaps  60  per  ceni. 
of  children  who  are  studying  need  glasses.  It  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  where  one  may  not  need  glasses  if  he  is  not  doing 
close  work  with  the  eyes,  close  work  is  just  the  thing  that 
makes  it  necessary  to  give  the  eyes  all  possible  aid.  A  study 
by  F.  J.  Mann  shows  that  hyperopia  is  five  times  more  preva- 
lent than  myopia.  One  hundred  and  ninety-one  cases  were 
very   carefully   studied.     Hyperopia   is   considered   by   Prof. 


6c0re 


30 


Zo^ 


to 


/O      II      /Z    /3     /4     /r    /6     /?     /a   /IcCults 


Fip.  14.     Results  for  deaf  and  hearing  girls  in  the  digit-symbol  test.  (Pinlner 
and  Paterson,  82a). 


186 


PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 


Mann  as  a  much  more  serious  cause  of  eyestrain  and  retard- 
ation in  schools  than  myopia.     (59). 


/o 


Fig.   15.     Results  for  deaf  and  hearing  boys  in  digit-symbol  test.      (Pintner 
and  Paterson,  82a). 


Nose  and  throat  troubles  and  especially  adenoids  interfere 
with  school  work.  Children  who  were  thought  to  be  subnor- 
mal and  who  had  adenoids  removed  have  been  found  to  be 
of  normal  intelligence  and  fully  able  to  keep  up  with  normal 
children. 

Although  it  has  probably  not  been  conclusively  shown  that 
poor  teeth  cause  poorer  mental  work,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
poor  teeth,  if  they  are  not  remedied,  bring  about  serious  phy- 
sical conditions  in  adult  life.  Besides  the  statement  that  bad 
teeth  lower  scholarship,  there  is  no  doubt  about  the  effects  of 
bad  teeth  on  lowered  health,  impaired  digestion,  and  the  great- 
er danger  of  contagious  diseases.  There  is  found  to  be  con- 
siderable correlation  between  bad  teeth  and  rheumatism,  and 
there  is  also  evidence  that  not  a  few  nervous  diseases  or  at 
least  disorders,  may  be  traced  to  defective  teeth  and  cured  by 
the  necessary  treatment  of  the  teeth. 

Food.  Lack  of  sufficient  food,  poorly  prepared  food,  con- 
stipation, and  resulting  auto-intoxication,  poor  digestion,  and 
lack  of  assimilation  of  food,  lower  the  level  of  both  physical 
and  mental  work.  Forty-three  per  cent,  of  the  New  York  City 
school  children  were  at  one  time  said  to  be  underfed.  The 
penny  lunches  appear  to  have  been  followed  by  better  school 


PHYSICAL   AND   PHYSIOLOGICAL  CONDITIONS 


187 


Avork.  In  Minneapolis  recently  there  was  found  a  family  in 
which  the  children  had  always  done  uniformly  excellent 
school  work.  Suddenly  the  work  of  all  deteriorated  and  on 
investigation  it  was  found  that  because  of  business  reverses 
pnd  financial  loss  the  family  were  unable  to  obtain  sufficient 
food.  Upon  supplying  sufficient,  good,  well  cooked  food  again 
the  children  were  found  doing  their  customary  excellent  work. 
A  balanced  diet.  People  commonly  pay  too  little  attention 
to  getting  a  balanced  diet.  Fisher  and  Fisk  give  a  table  by 
means  of  which  one  can  roughly  determine  a  properly  bal- 
anced diet.     See  Table  1.     (27). 


Very    hiah 

In 

proteins 


High    In 
protein 


Moderate    or 
deficient 

in 
protein 


Poor  In 

Rich  In 

fat. 

fat. 

White  of  eggs 

Cod  fish 

Lean  beef 

Chicken 

Veal 

S^ell  fish 

Moat  flsh 

Skim  milk 

Most  meats 

Lentils 

Most  fowl 

Peas 

Whole  egg 

Beans 

Cheese 

Most   vegetables 

Peanuts 

Bread 

Milk 

Potatoes 

Cream  soups 

Fruits 

Most  pies 

Sugar 

Doughnuts 

Very    rich    In 
fat. 


Fat    meats 
Yolk  of  eggs 
Most  nuts 
Cream 
Butter 


Table  1. 

"The  foods  given  in  the  uppermost  compartment  are  those 

*very  high'  in  protein The  compartment  farthest  to 

the  right  contains  a  list  of  those  foods  'very'  high  in  fat. 
....  The  foods  in  the  lower  left  compartment  are  rich  in 
carbohydrates.  Those  in  neighboring  compartments  are 
moderate  and  the  others  are  poorest  in  carbohydrates." 

"Thus  practically  the  nearer  the  name  of  any  food  is  to  the 
upper  left  corner  of  this  triangular  table,  the  more  protein 
that  food  contains;  the  nearer  it  is  to  the  right  hand  corner,  the 
more  fat  ....  and  the  nearer  to  the  remaining  corner  (lower 
left),  the  more  carbohydrate  (starch  and  sugar)." 

"An  ideal  proportion  of  the  three  food  elements  is  to  be  had 
only  in  the  middle  compartment  of  the  lowest  row.  But  it  is 
by  no  means  necessary  or  advisable  to  confine  one's  diet  to  the 


188  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

few  foods  which  happen  to  fall  in  that  compartment,  provided 
foods  chosen  from  other  compartments  balance  each  other. 
Thus,  fruit  and  nuts  balance  each  other,  the  one  being  at  the 
left  and  the  other  at  the  right  of  the  ideal  compartment.  In 
the  same  way,  potatoes  and  cream  balance  each  other,  as  do 
bread  and  butter.  Instinctively  these  combinations  have  been 
chosen,  especially  bread  and  butter.  This  combination  is, 
however,  slightly  too  low  in  protein,  and  a  better  balance  is 
obtained  by  adding  a  little  from  the  compartment  vertically 
above  the  ideal.  In  this  way  we  obtain  the  familiar  meat-, 
egg-,  or  cheese-sandwich,  constituting  of  itself  a  fairly  well- 
balanced  meal." 

"In  short,  in  order  to  maintain  a  diet  correct  as  to  protein, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  make  our  main  choices  from  the  lowest 
row  and,  in  case  the  foods  so  chosen  are  near  the  bottom,  to 
supplement  these  by  a  moderate  use  from  the  row  above  and 
a  still  more  sparing  use  of  those  in  the  top  compartment." 
(27). 

The  importance  of  a  correct  diet  cannAf  be  overestimated 
and  most  of  us  could  do  better  than  we^do  in  the  matter. 
Other  pages  in  the  book  just  referred  to  are  recommended  to 
the  reader. 

Air.  It  was  safe  to  say  only  a  few  years  ago  that  people 
needed  a  certain  amount  of  fresh  air  to  breathe.  Recent  re- 
searches have  suggested  that  perhaps  all  we  need  is  to  put  old, 
much  breathed  air  into  motion.  We  at  least  are  assured  of 
the  fact  that  air  in  motion  can  be  breathed  with  perfect  com- 
fort and  no  physiological  ill  effects  for  a  much  longer  period 
than  can  air  which  is  not  in  motion.  The  unpleasant  effects 
of  air  which  has  been  breathed  for  some  time  can  often  be  re- 
moved in  this  way. 

Many  systems  of  ventilation  have  been  worked  out  and 
many  studies  of  ventilation  have  been  made.  A  good  system 
of  ventilation  is  invaluable.  It  has  not  been  proved,  that  it  is 
not  wise  to  judiciously  use  window  ventilation  to  supplement 
even  the  best  systems  of  ventilation  that  have  yet  appeared. 

Prof.  Lee,  (58),  of  Columbia  University,  in  a  recent  report 
of  the  effects  of  atmospheric  conditions  in  relation  to  physiol- 
ogical action,  notes  the  current  emphasis  upon  physical  rather 
than  upon  chemical  features.  He  writes:  "The  harmfulness 
of  living  in  confined  air  is  found  in  certain  physical  rather 
than  chemical  features — the  air  is  too  warm,  too  moist,  and 
too  still;  and  if  it  has  not  these  physical  features  it  is  not  harm- 


PHYSICAL  AND   PHYSIOLOGICAL   CONDITIONS  189 

ful."  It  is  perhaps  too  early  to  predict  what  the  status  of  car- 
bon dioxide  will  be  in  the  future.  We  are  not  at  present  ready 
to  have  any  percent  at  all  of  carbon  dioxide  in  the  air  that  we 
breathe  and  will  probably  remain  a  little  critical  of  the  state- 
ment that  "the  harmfulness  of  air  is  not  due  to  its  chemical 
components."  There  is  no  doubt  about  the  need  of  keeping 
the  physical  conditions  much  better  than  has  been  done. 

Temperature.  Prof.  Lee  refers  to  the  common  experience 
of  all  when  he  writes  in  this  same  article,  "We  all  have  sat  in 
crowded  assemblies;  we  all  have  experienced  the  hot,  humid, 
still  days  of  an  American  summer;  we  all  know  the  effects  of 
such  air  on  our  sensations — the  general  bodily  discomfort,  the 
sleepiness,  the  flushed  face,  the  headache,  the  disinclination 
to  think  or  to  act,  the  general  debility,  the  longing  for  relief." 
Summinj^  up  the  facts  presented  by  Mr.  Huntington,  in  his 
book,  "Civilization  and  Climate,"  Prof.  Lee  continues:  "All 
these  data  combine  to  demonstrate  that  the  greatest  physical 
efficiency  of  the  individual  is  found  not  during  the  summer  or 
the  winter,  but  at  intermediate  seasons."  That  the  same  is 
true  also  of  mental  activity  is  shown  by  a  study  of  the  marks 
secured  by  the  students  at  West  Point  and  Annapolis  in  cer- 
tain classes,  especially  mathematics.  Of  the  various  climatic 
features  that  might  be  responsible  for  these  seasonal  differ- 
ences in  achievement,  temperature  appears  to  be  the  most 
important.  Both  physical  and  mental  activity  seem  to  be 
greatest  and  most  effective,  not  when  extreme  summer's  heat 
or  extreme  winter's  cold  prevails,  but  when  the  body  is  sub- 
jected to  an  intermediate  temperature.  After  a  careful  con- 
sideration of  his  many  figures  Huntington  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  optimum  temperature  of  the  outside  air  for 
the  physical  work  of  human  beings  is  about  60  degrees  F. 
(15.5  degrees  C.)  and  for  mental  work  about  40  degrees  F. 
(4.4  degrees  C.)  the  greatest  efficiency  of  the  human  body  cul- 
minating at  the  intermediate  point  of  50  degrees  F.  (10  degrees 
C). 

The  studies  we  have  all  go  to  show  that  the  customary  tem- 
perature, 70  degrees  F.  in  which  we  are  likely  to  keep  our  liv- 
ing rooms  is  too  high.  A  temperature  of  65  degrees  to  68  de- 
grees F.  (about  18  degrees  to  20  degrees  C.)  is  probably  best. 
It  is  likely  also  that  the  air  is  too  quiet.  And  a  third  very  im- 
portant factor  is  the  humidity. 

Humidity.  Professor  Whipple  has  called  our  attention  to 
the  fact  thai  Ihe  air  in  our  dwellings  sometimes  exceeds  in 


190  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

dryness  that  of  the  Desert  of  Sahara.  The  importance  of 
humidity  is  so  great  that  it  would  not  be  at  all  surprising  if 
we  should  some  day  measure  the  humidity  of  our  indoor  air 
as  carefully  as  we  now  measure  the  temperature.  The  hy- 
grometer may  some  day  be  as  common  as  the  thermometer. 
The  New  York  commission  has  recommended  50  per  cent, 
relative  humidity  as  most  desirable.  We  are  certainly  not 
likely  to  do  our  best  work,  either  physical  or  mental,  if  the  air 
is  either  too  dry  or  too  moist. 

Atmospheric  conditions  and  mental  work.  Experiments  as 
yet  do  not  seem  to  clearly  indicate  the  effects  of  atmospheric 
conditions  on  mental  work.  Further  experiments  on  a  fairly 
large  scale  are  under  way.  Common  experience  and  the  ob- 
servations already  quoted  above,  however,  indicate  deleterious 
effects  of  extreme  conditions.  The  fact  is  that  extreme  con- 
ditions are  distractions,  or  at  least  tend  to  detract  attention. 
More  effort  is  therefore  required  on  the  part  of  the  student 
and  this  constitutes  a  serious  difficulty  in  the  school  room  and 
in  the  case  of  any  student  who  lacks  the  necessary  motives, 
interest,  or  pressure  to  overcome  the  disturbing  influences. 

Uniformity  of  atmospheric  conditions,  that  is,  with  little  or 
no  chanaes,  is  found  to  be  dullinq  to  both  mind  and  body. 
Change  is  stimulating  and  if  not  too  extreme  or  too  often,  is 
valuable.  Clothing  is  important.  Impeding  the  circulation 
of  the  blood  by  too  tight  clothing  interferes  also  with  the  men- 
tal processes.  To  attempt  to  disregard  these  things,  to  over- 
come them  by  force  of  will,  may  be  heroic,  but  is  uneconomic 
and  requires  the  paying  of  too  big  a  price  for  diminishing  re- 
turns. At  the  very  outset  the  physical  conditions  should  be 
made  as  nearly  riaht  as  possible. 

Regularity  and  Efficiency.  Regularity  of  eating,  sleeping* 
plenty  of  good  nourishing  food  and  of  sleep,  keeping  the  body 
in  the  best  condition  always,  will  do  more  for  the  intellectual 
welfare  of  the  student  than  he  realizes.  Suppose  that  the 
student  keep  himself  in  this  fine  physical  condition,  and  then 
push  himself  to  his  best  efforts;  that  responsibilities  and  de- 
mands be  made  upon  him;  that  he  studies  regularly  and  for 
long  hours;  he  will  be  astonished  to  find  what  it  is  possible 
for  him  to  accomplish.  And,  further,  he  will  find  that  while 
he  turns  out  more  and  better  work,  he  can  do  it  with  perfect 
comfort.  To  use  artificial  stimulants  to  work  leaves  one  in 
an  abnormal  condition;  to  use  the  right  incentives,  to  concen- 
trate effort,  to  develop  interests  and  discover  motives,  to  per- 


PHYSICAL  AND  PHYSIOLOGICAL  CONDITIONS  191 

feet  methods  of  study,  to  keep  the  body  healthy  for  this  pur- 
pose, reveals  deeper  levels  of  energy  and  develops  a  degree  of 
efficiency  of  which  the  student  may  never  have  dreamed. 

Change  of  work.  To  change  from  one  kind  of  study  or 
work  to  another  kind  often  brings  better  results.  One  is  not 
rested  by  doing  this,  but  he  feels  rested.  It  removes  weari- 
ness, the  feelings  of  effort  and  boredom,  and  lets  up  on  the 
strains  that  have  started.  Different  parts  of  the  brain  may 
be  called  predominantly  into  action.  And  only  predominant- 
ly, let  it  be  said,  for  the  brain  works  so  much  as  a  unit,  that  it 
is  not  true  to  say  that  yoy  use  one  part  for  one  thing  and  an- 
other part  for  something  else.  Many  parts  of  the  brain  are 
active  whenever  any  of  it  is  active.  Different  muscles  may  be 
exercised.  If  the  eyes  are  used  very  much  for  one  subject,  a 
change  to  something  requiring  less  eye  work  is  advantageous. 

Furthermore,  the  student  should  learn  to  do  his  hardest 
work,  his  best  study,  at  the  times  when  he  is  most  rested,  when 
he  has  the  best  supply  of  energy.  It  is  certainly  a  mistake  to 
think  that  one  can  do  very  good  mental  work  when  physically 
tired.  It  is  much  more  economical  to  rest  a  while  and  then 
begin  study.  It  is  doubtful  whether  study  should  be  done 
immediately  after  a  meal;  the  blood  should  not  be  called  im- 
mediately from  the  stomach  to  the  brain  by  hard  intellectual 
work.  Such  time  might  well  be  used  for  rest,  recreation,  or 
perhaps,  for  light,  pleasant  reading  or  conversation. 

Fatigue.  Fatigue  is  defined  as  the  reduction  in  capacity 
for  and  pleasure  in  work.  Mental  fatigue  is  fatigue  for  men- 
tal work;  bodily  fatigue  is  fatigue  for  bodily  work.  Fatigue 
we  have  already  distinguished  from  weariness  or  the  feeling 
of  fatigue.  This  feeling,  we  said,  was  no  safe  indication  of  the 
actual  fatigue,  that  is  for  the  actual  lack  of  capacity  for  further 
work.  Actual  fatigue  can  be  removed  only  by  rest.  Recre- 
ation, change  of  work  or  of  subject  matter,  may  remove  the 
weariness  but  do  not  change  the  fatigue. 

It  should  also  be  remembered  that  one  cannot  fatigue  him- 
self for  one  kind  of  work,  either  mental  or  physical,  and  ex- 
pect to  be  without  the  same  fatigue  for  the  other.  He  will  be 
without  the  feeling  of  fatigue,  perhaps,  if  the  change  of  work 
brings  renewed  interest,  relieves  particular  strains  and  un- 
pleasantnesses, and  brings  pleasure  through  the  change  itself. 
Actual  fatigue  is  not  removed  in  this  way. 

The  value  of  shorter  periods  of  study  and  of  work  has  ap- 
peared from  various  quarters.     We  have  already  referred  to 


192  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

the  value  of  comparatively  short  study  periods.  The  fact  that 
workmen  can  turn  out  more  and  better  work  in  reasonably 
shorter  than  longer  periods  has  found  its  expression  in  the 
shortened  hours,  for  example,  in  the  eight  instead  of  the  ten 
hour  day.  Just  as  much  and  perhaps  more  can  be  done  in  the 
shorter  time  and  with  no  more  or  at  least  relatively  no  more, 
and  perhaps  even  less  fatigue  considering  the  time  expended. 

Fatigue  and  school  hours.  The  best  progress  in  school  re- 
quires careful  elimination  of  fatigue  whenever  it  appears,  and 
careful  administration  of  school  affairs  so  that  the  minimum 
of  fatigue  results  from  the  day's  work.  Taking  the  judgment 
of  Offner,  (72),  which  he  made  after  an  extensive  study  of  the 
problem,  we  find  the  following  statements.  Sixty  minutes  is 
entirely  too  long  for  a  class  period  and  has  no  psychological 
reason  for  its  justification.  This  applies  to  high  school  stu- 
dents. For  older  students  a  longer  time  is  permissable,  and 
eighty  minutes  is  thought  to  be  the  longest  which  should  be 
used  for  older  students  and  then  only  for  reviews.  Forty-five 
minutes  are  recommended  for  the  normal  high  school  student. 
For  lower  grades  thirty  minutes  are  long  enough.  In  corfnec- 
tion  with  this  matter  we  may  well  consider  the  apparent  suc- 
cess of  many  principals  of  high  scjpools  who  have  used  thirty 
minute  periods  for  their  students  and  alternate  the  recitation 
with  the  study  period.  This,  you  remember,  agrees  with  the 
results  of  experiment  on  the  value  of  comparatively  short 
study  periods,  i.  e.,  twenty  to  thirty  minutes. 

Offner  says  that  five  periods  a  day  are  enough  and  that  some 
authorities  have  decided  that  a  return  to  four  periods  is 
wisest.  The  maximum  for  the  week  according  to  this  writer 
should  be  twenty-four.  As  to  pauses  in  the  work;  the  pauses 
should  be  shorter  early  in  the  day  and  longer  later  in  the  day. 
It  is  very  questionable  as  to  the  value  of  very  strenuous  exer- 
cise for  those  who  are  studying.  A  moderate  degree  of  exer- 
cise is  beneficial;  much  more  than  that  may  bring  one  too  near 
to  the  point  of  fatigue  and  interfere  more  with  mental  work 
than  it  helps. 

The  rather  extreme  suggestion  of  two  hours  rest  over  the 
noon  hour  before  one  begins  the  afternoon's  study  will  hardly 
meet  with  general  approval.  Yet  this  suggestion  is  found  in 
the  above  mentioned  author.  The  American  would  consider 
two  hours  rest  in  the  middle  of  the  day  too  much  waste.  The 
suggestion  that  informational  instruction  and  class  recitations 
be  given  up  in  the  afternoon  in  order  to  keep  students  from 


PHYSICAL   AND   PHYSIOLOGICAL   CONDITIONS 


193 


studying  during  the  noon  hour  is  perhaps  sufficiently  well  ap- 
proximated in  the  plan  which  throws  laboratory  and  shop 
work  in  the  afternoon.  Surely  a  rest  after  the  noon  meal,  or 
at  least,  restraint,  if  happily  it  be  restraint,  is  beneficial. 

Sleep.  Professor  Whipple,  (120),  recommends  the  follow- 
ing hours  of  sleep  for  people  of  the  ages  given.  The  hours 
are  averages  from  figures  given  by  the  six  best  authorities. 
See  Table  2.  For  an  admirable  study  of  the  sleep  of  school 
children  one  should  read  the  study  of  Terman  and  Hocking. 
(108). 

Age:  6         7         8         9      10       11        12     13     14       15     16       17 

Hours:        12.2    11.5    11.2    11     10.5    10.2    9.8    9.6    9.25    9.0    8.75    8.5 

Table  2. 

More  sleep  is  necessary  for  more  strenuous  work  or  play, 
for  younger  people,  and  in  winter  than  in  summer.  If  sleep 
does  not  fully  restore  the  organism  to  complete  capacity,  that 
sleep  was  insufficient  or  the  work  of  the  day  before  too 
strenuous. 

Short  naps.  Experiments  and  experience  seem  to  show  that 
short  naps  may  be  very  useful  in  economizing  time  and  en- 
evgy.  The  rest  and  recuperation  is  greatest  soon  after  going 
to  sleep  if  one  may  reason  from  the  soundness  of  sleep,  and  is 
less  and  less  so  in  succeeding  hours.     See  Fig.  16.     It  has  been 

•Stye  ft ^i^  of 


SOO  ' 


3oo  ' 


/oo 


Fccf  16. 

Fig.  i6.  "Curve  illustrating  strength  of  an  auditory  stimulus  (a  ball  falling 
at  half  hour  intervals).  The  curve  indicates  that  the  distance  through  which 
the  ball  required  to  be  dropped  increased  during  the  first  hour,  and  then  dimin- 
ished, at  first  very  rapidly,  then  slowly.     (Kolscheutter)."     (i). 


194  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

said  that  a  person  can  get  the  greatest  amount  of  good  from  hi» 
hours  of  sleep  if  he  cuts  short  the  long  night  rest  and  takes  a 
short  nap  in  the  middle  of  the  day.  He  thus  takes  advantage 
of  the  greater  rest  to  be  gained  from  the  earlier  portions  of 
two  sleep  periods. 

"It  appears  that  loss  of  sleep  can  be  made  up  by  fewer  extra 
hours  than  the  number  lost  though  the  explanation  of  this  is 
not  fully  apparent."     (2). 

On  this  subject  see  also:  Patrick  and  Gilbert  (75).  Also, 
G.  E.  Seashore,  (88). 

Social  activities  do  more  than  hard  work  to  bring  on  fatigue 
and  in  the  cases  of  many  of  our  students  nervous  breakdowns. 
Social  intercourse  is  moderation  is  not  only  beneficial  but 
necessary  for  the  growth  and  development  of  normal  life.  But 
late  hours  and  insufficient  sleep  with  midnight  suppers  thrown 
in  inevitably  show  in  the  lack  of  efficiency  the  next  day,  the 
extra  energy  required  for  the  same  work,  the  greater  number 
of  errors,  and  if  kept  up  long  enough  in  nervous  breakdown. 
This  may  be  fashionable,  but  the  student  will  have  to  become 
more  than  ordinarily  expert  in  statistics  to  prove  that  it  is 
economical. 

Study  in  evening  school  after  a  hard  day's  work  cannot  be 
expected  to  give  the  returns  that  study  without  any  degree  of 
fatigue  would  give.  Economy  for  the  students  in  evening 
classes  would  be  found  in  using  part  of  their  available  time  in 
resting  and  then  studying.  The  study  time  even  though  short- 
er would  give  better  results.  One  must  be  careful  not  to  sleep 
too  long  before  the  evening  study,  if  he  sleeps  at  all,  for  he 
must  avoid  the  getting  too  drowsy  to  do  any  effective  study 
later. 

Raising  the  question  whether  or  not  it  is  permissible  that 
pupils  be  fatigued,  Olfner  answers.  Yes.  Fatigue  is  not  dan- 
gerous if  there  is  full  recuperation  every  morning  after  the 
night's  rest.  A  man  needs  training  to  meet  the  emergencies 
that  demand  work  to  the  point  of  fatigue.  Better  develop- 
ment comes  through  reasonably  hard  work,  *  **An  easy  school 
is  a  social  crime."  ' 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 
1.     What  facts  have  we  that  show  the  need  for  good  physiol- 
ogical and  physical  conditions  if  we  are  to  have  good  school 
work? 


PHYSICAL  AND   PHYSIOLOGICAL  CONDITIONS  195 

2.  What  are  the  most  important  special  physical  defects  of 
school  children?     What  should  be  done  about  them? 

3.  What  is  the  relation  of  food  to  health  and  good  mental 
work? 

4.  How  would  you  work  out  a  suitable  diet  from  the  table 
given  in  the  text?     What  is  meant  by  a  balanced  diet? 

5.  What  three  things  are  essential  in  connection  with  air? 
How  far  can  and  should  they  be  controlled? 

6.  Discuss  the  problem  of  fatigue  and  its  relation  to  school 
Avork. 

7.  What  would  you  advise  a  student  in  regard  to  the  right 
amount  of  sleep? 

8.  Distinguish  between  fatigue  and  the  feeling  of  fatigue. 
What  is  the  effect  of  recreation  on,  1)  fatigue,  2)  the  feeling 
of  fatigue? 

9.  Discuss  the  problem  of  social  activities  in  relation  to 
school  work. 

10.  What  is  the  value  of  hard  work  and  how  is  an  easy 
school  a  social  crime? 

REFERENCES. 

Cornell,  W.  S.  Health  and  Medical  Inspection  of  School  Children. 
F.  A.  Davis.     1912. 

Fisher,  I.  and  Fisk,  E.  L.  How  to  Live.  Rules  for  healthful  living 
based  on  modern  science.  Authorized  and  prepared  in  collaboration 
with  hvgiene  reference  board  of  the  Life  Extension  Institute,  Inc. 
Funk  and  Wagnalls  Co.     3rd  Ed.     1916. 

Offner,  M.  Mental  Fatigue,  Tr.  by  G.  M.  Whipple.  Warwick  and 
York.     1911. 


Chapter  16. 
THE  DIRECTING  OF  LEARNING  AND  STUDY. 

Results  of  supervised  study.  No  doubt  seems  to  exist  as  to 
the  need  for  supervised  study.  The  amount  of  agreement  that 
we  should  have  it,  is  at  least,  out  of  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  directed  study  that  has  occurred,  unless  it  be  in  the  last  fe\\^ 
years.  It  appears  that  we  might  with  profit  hear  less  for  a 
time  about  the  very  important  matter  of  preparing  the  teacher 
to  teach,  and  hear  more  about  preparing  the  student  to  study, 
and  the  teacher  to  help  him  to  study. 

The  justification  of  supervised  study  lies  partly  in  the  recog- 
nied  need  for  it  and  partly  in  the  fact  that  it  has  proved  its 
worth  where  it  has  been  tried  and  used.  Study  that  is  not 
supervised  or  properly  directed  is  wasteful.  Bad  habits  of 
study  are  thus  formed.  Supervised  study  has  given  results  so 
far  superior  to  the  old  wasteful  ways  of  pupils, — they  can 
hardly  be  called  methods  in  many  cases, — that  no  teacher  who 
knows  the  facts  can  deny  the  economy  of  such  supervision. 
The  same  lessons  can  be  mastered  in  less  time  and  bad  habits 
of  study  avoided.  Breslich  is  authority  for  the  statement  that 
supervised  study  may  give  results  even  two  and  one-half  times 
superior  to  unsupervised  study  if  we  think  of  results  in  terms 
of  time. 

Moral  value  of  home  study  habits.  Nothwithstanding  the 
recognized  superiority  of  supervised  study  at  school,  there  re- 
mains a  very  serious  moral  problem.  It  appears  that  in  one 
place  where  home  study  was  abolished,  parents  discovered 
that  their  children  spent  their  evenings  away  from  home  in- 
stead of  at  home  as  they  had  done  formerly.  The  problem  is 
serious.  The  endeavor  of  educators  today  is  to  direct  the  ac- 
tivities of  children  for  a  larger  number  of  hours  out  of  every 
twenty-four.  The  street,  the  movie,  all  that  influences  child- 
ren when  they  are  not  at  home  or  in  school  is  part  of  the  edu- 
cational problem.  At  these  times  they  are  forming  habits, 
many  of  which  may  be  exceedingly  bad.  The  point  is  that  a 
little  home  work  may  be  of  great  value  in  getting  pupils  to 
form  better  habits  of  spending  the  evening  hours. 

196 


THE  DIRECTING  OF  LEARNING  AND  STUDY  197 

The  piipiVs  failure  in  the  application  of  advice  for  methods 
of  study.  Parker  cites  the  case  of  a  teacher  who  gave  instruc- 
tions to  pupils  as  to  methods  of  studying  and  found  out  later 
that  one  of  these  pupils  knew  nothing  about  studying  the  sub- 
ject the  teacher  taught.  The  girl  told  her  parents  that  she 
knew  of  no  suggestions  that  the  teacher  had  given  about  how 
to  study  the  lesson.  The  parents  inquired  of  the  teacher  and 
learned  that  such  suggestions  had  been  given.  It  is  a  question 
how  frequent  such  cases  are.  From  our  general  knowledge 
we  may  suppose  that  this  case  is  by  no  means  exceptional. 

The  only  safe  thing  for  the  teacher  is  not  only  to  give  the 
instructions  but  to  know  that  they  are  carried  out.  Supervised 
study  in  the  school  will  give  opportunity  for  the  teacher  to 
know  this.  It  is  also  advisable  that  a  part  of  the  recitation  be 
on  the  methods  used  in  getting  the  lessons.  Not  only  should 
children  know  the  lesson,  they  should  know  how  they  learned 
it  and  be  able  to  tell  how  they  did  it.  The  habits  of  study  are 
some  of  the  most  important  end  results  of  education.  Tests 
should  include  these  habits  formed  as  well  as  the  habits  that 
are  commonly  tested. 

The  teacher's  inability  to  advise.  As  Judd  has  pointed  out, 
teachers  do  not  know  what  to  tell  students  about  how  to  study. 
He  gives  the  example  of  a  principal  who  arranged  with  his 
teachers  for  a  separate  period  during  which  the  teachers 
should  direct  students  in  the  methods  of  getting  their  lessons 
efTiciently  and  economically.  "The  program  ....  was  ar- 
ranged and  the  classes  met  the  teachers.  Then  it  was  discov- 
ered that  the  teachers  did  not  know  what  to  say  to  the  stud- 
ents. Teachers  know  about  Latin  and  mathematics.  They 
can  ask  questions  in  these  subjects;  but  they  do  not  know 
about  students'  minds  in  a  way  which  makes  it  possible  to  tell 
students  how  to  study." 

Teachers  fail  to  know  the  difficulties  of  students.  They 
should  know  these  difficulties  and  the  particular  difficulties  of 
students  in  the  subjects  taught.  Knowing  these  they  should 
learn  to  apply  the  particular  knowledge  of  method  needed. 

For  the  last  four  years  the  present  writer  has  given  sugges- 
tions for  study  to  his  students,  especially  to  those  students  who 
were  preparing  to  teach.  The  following  suggestions  were 
written  out  about  three  years  ago  and  have  been  found  very 
useful  in  his  talks  to  teachers.  They  are  here  given  in  almost 
the  same  form  as  that  in  which  they  have  been  used  for  the 
last  three  years.     They  suggest  many  of  the  things  that  can  be 


198  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

said  to  students  in  the  attempt  to  improve  their  methods  of 
study.  Choice  can  be  made  from  the  list  of  suggestions  which 
follow.  Many  of  them  will  be  of  great  value  to  students,  es- 
pecially if  the  teacher  amplify  upon  the  statements  where 
necessary.  The  detailed  facts  found  in  the  earlier  chapters  of 
this  book  will  offer  the  necessary  help  for  such  amplification. 

Suggestions  for  students.  What  you  study  is  very  im- 
portant. How  you  study  is  more  important.  What  you  study 
you  may  forget  in  a  short  time.  You  will  very  likely  forget  a 
good  deal  of  it.  How  you  learn,  the  methods  you  use,  become 
habits  that  are  a  very  part  of  you.  These  habits  stick  through 
life.  If  you  get  good  habits  of  study  you  can  learn  very  much 
more  quickly.  And  you  will  also  be  better  able  to  learn  things 
by  yourself  when  there  is  no  teacher  to  help  you. 

You  have  often  heard  about  learning  to  use  the  hands. 
It  is  more  important  to  learn  to  use  the  mind.  Learning  to 
use  the  mind  correctly  helps  you  to  use  the  hands  better.  This 
makes  the  mental  habits  that  are  necessary  for  success  in 
school  and  after  you  leave  school.  Whatever  you  think,  feel, 
or  do,  develops  in  you  the  tendency  for  you  to  think,  feel,  and 
do  the  same  later.  That  is,  it  makes  your  habits  of  thinking, 
feeling,  and  doing.  If  you  form  good  habits  they  help  you  to 
succeed;  if  you  form  poor  habits,  they  hinder  you. 

Remember  that  you  must  not  simply  listen  to  these  sug- 
gestions and  decide  to  use  them  sometime.  You  should  use 
them  now  and  all  the  time.  You  will  have  to  use  them  until 
they  become  habits.  You  should  realize  that  your  old  meth- 
ods are  probably  not  economical.  If  a  new  method  seems 
harder  to  you  it  is  probably  simply  because  it  is  new  to  you. 
When  you  get  used  to  it  it  will  save  you  time  and  be  easier. 

Do  not  be  prejudiced  against  these  new  methods.  They 
have  been  worked  out  by  people  who  have  studied  the  best 
ways  of  doing  things.  These  people  are  giving  you  these  re- 
sults after  much  study  and  many  experiments.  You  are  the 
one  to  be  benefited  if  you  will  only  use  them.  They  studied 
these  problems  of  study  because  the  old  ways  wasted  too  much 
time. 

Habit.  Making  a  thing  a  habit  permits  you  to  do  what  you 
have  learned  in  this  way  and  to  attend  to  the  next  new  prob- 
lem. Progress  and  mastery  demand  many  useful  habits,  and, 
especially,  as  many  as  possible  in  one's  chosen  profession  or 
vocation. 


THE  DIR^TING  OF  LEARNING  AND  STUDY  199 

Always  learn  correctly  the  first  time;  never  learn  incor- 
rectly; things  once  learned  can  never  be  entirely  unlearned. 

Your  habits  will  determine,  for  the  most  part,  what  you  will 
be  and  do  in  the  future;  develop,  therefore,  the  habits  of 
thinking,  feeling,  and  doing  that  will  be  helpful  later. 

Fully  make  your  habits.  Learn  the  things  that  will  help 
you  best  to  form  difficult  habits  and  make  use  of  them. 

Learn  the  things  that  interfere  with  the  formation  of  habits 
in  your  case  and  do  your  best  to  avoid  them,  for  example, 
laziness,  not  caring  enough,  too  many  engagemehts,  not  having 
time,  and  the  like. 

Remember  that  what  you  are  getting  out  of  your  education 
are  habits  of  some  kind  and  that  you  want  good  habits  rather 
than  bad  ones;  habits  that  will  save  you  time  and  effort,  rather 
than  habits  that  will  waste  your  time  and  effort. 

Fully  formed  habits  are  what  give  stability  to  character. 
One  is  expert  only  when  one  has  many  of  these  fully  formed 
habits.  Such  habits  are  the  only  things  that  can  be  depended 
upon  in  the  emergencies  of  life.  That  is  what  makes  the 
trained  soldier  more  valuable  than  the  raw  recruit.  Th^t  is 
the  reason  that  the  football  squad  has  to  practice  so  long  and 
so  hard. 

Habit  formation  involving  study.  Get  a  good  start 
and  start  promptly.  Don't  waste  time  beginning.  Half  a 
minute  is  probably  long  enough  to  take  to  get  started. 

In  the  problems  of  life  three  things  above  everything  else 
will  be  valuable  to  you :  the  ability  to  gather  facts,  the  ability 
to  get  clear  ideas,  and  the  ability  to  make  right  judgments. 

The  more  you  know  of  a  given  subject,  the  more  you  can 
get  from  a  lecture  or  from  reading  on  that  subject. 

To  be  clear  and  to  be  accurate  are  the  most  important 
things  in  all  study  and  in  solving  any  of  the  problems  of  life. 

Remember  that  thoroughness  pays  in  the  long  run.  Being 
thorough  means  fulfilling  the  requirements  of  the  situation  in 
which  you  are  placed.  One  can  be  wisely  thorough  without 
being  exhaustively  thorough.  Know  what  to  do  and  where 
to  stop. 

Be  true  to  the  facts  with  which  you  are  dealing.  That  is, 
don't  think  that  the  book  says  what  you  expect  it  to  say.  Find 
out  exactly  just  what  it  does  say. 

Know  exactly  the  aim  of  every  study  you  go  into.  Adapt 
your  method  to  that  aim.     Do  exactly  what  you  set  out  to  do 


200  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

or  know  why  you  do  something  else  and  that  it  is  right  to 
change. 

Imitate,  and  imitate  only  the  best;  add  some  thinking  even 
then. 

Mastery  of  material  requires  organization;  if  material  is 
not  well  organized,  organize  it  for  yourself  both  for  memory 
and  for  understanding. 

Give  good  attention  to  the  things  you  want-  to  understand 
and  remember. 

Find  the  general  subject  or  problem  first;  then  find  the  first 
main  thought,  then  the  sub-topics  under  this  main  thought 
with  the  illustrations  for  each  point;  then  the  next  main 
thought,  the  sub-topics  and  illustrations;  repeat  this  until  you 
have  mastered  your  material. 

Find  a  concrete  example  for  everything  you  want  to  under- 
stand and  remember. 

Outline  what  you  want  to  remember;  then  memorize  the 
outline. 

Follow  through  good  reasoning  of  others;  read  books  in 
which  you  find  good  reasoning. 

Reason  with  others,  and  try  to  make  your  points  so  clear 
and  forcible  that  the  other  man  cannot  fail  to  see  them. 

Reason  out  theories,  and  then  test  them  to  see  where  they 
are  good  and  where  bad. 

Practise  in  picking  out  essential  factors  in  situations.  Learn 
how  to  pick  out  the  most  important  ideas. 

Learn  to  detect  errors  in  reasoning  and  to  avoid  them. 

Modes  of  thought.  Discover  the  habits  of  thought  that  you 
have  and  that  tend  to  lead  you  astray. 

The  trial  and  error  method  may  sometimes  save  time;  but 
thinking  will  save  you  more  time  and  a  great  deal  of  waste 
effort. 

Get  all  the  facts  you  need  before  making  a  judgment. 

Do  not  be  prejudiced  by  what  you  want  to  think  or  to  be- 
lieve.    Be  prejudiced  only  to  know  clearly  and  accurately. 

Know  whether  things  happen  by  coincidence  or  by  cause 
and  effect. 

Be  definite  in  the  use  of  words,  and  know  exactly  what  oth- 
ers mean,  either  when  they  speak  or  write. 

Remember  that  reasoning  by  analogy,  that  is  by  similarities, 
never  proves  anything  and  is  one  of  the  commonest  ways  in 
which  people  are  led  astray  in  their  thinking. 


THE  DIRECTING  OF  LEARNING  ANb  STUDY  201 

A  person  has  to  understand  in  terms  of  his  own  knowledge. 
But  reading  your  thoughts  and  feelings  into  things  may  lead 
you  far  from  the  truth. 

Be  sure  that  an  argument  proves  what  it  is  supposed  to 
prove  and  not  something  else. 

Distinguish  an  appeal  to  the  feelings  from  an  appeal  to  the 
intellect. 

Remember  that  a  conclusion  may  be  right  even  though  the 
arguments  are  bad  and  fail  to  prove  the  conclusion. 

Above  everything  else,  be  clear  and  be  accurate. 

Progress  and  improvability.  Given  the  capacity,  anyone, 
with  proper  methods,  regular  and  persistent  practice,  can  sur- 
pass the  achievements  of  most  people. 

The  best  improvement  is  found  to  occur  where  one  practices 
very  definitely  the  thing  in  which  the  improvement  is  desired. 
Do  not  practise  one  thing  and  expect  much  or  perhaps  any  im- 
provement in  other  things. 

Master  all  habits  as  you  go  along. 

However,  in  thought  material,  go  ahead  often  when  you  do 
not  fully  understand;  you  will  get  new  light;  reviewing  the 
whole  matter  later  will  help  you  further  in  a  full  under- 
standing. 

Frequent  reviews  will  give  you  the  best  results  for  the  time 
you  spend.  Learn  in  the  right  order  or  in  a  very  good  order; 
use  the  best  methods,  and  be  regular  in  your  application. 

Understand  the  causes  of  "plateaus"  in  your  case,  and  apply 
the  remedy  needed. 

Don't  get  the  idea  of  studying  just  because  a  lesson  is  as- 
signed. You  are  studying  for  your  own  advancement.  Stat- 
istics show  that  it  is  possible  for  an  educated  person  to  rise 
higher  and  to  do  things  impossible  for  an  uneducated  person. 

Learn  to  help  yourself  just  as  much  as  possible. 

Get  your  teachers  to  help  you  learn  how  to  learn. 

Learn  to  study  and  to  do  everything  as  nearly  as  possible  in 
the  way  you  will  do  them  after  you  leave  school. 

Be  a  master  of  something. 

Transfer  of  training.  Training  in  one  thing  may  help  in 
other  things;  it  may  also  hinder  in  other  things.  If  you  learn 
to  do  a  thing  correctly  the  methods  may  help  you  to  do  other 
things.  If  you  learn  a  thing  incorrectly,  it  is  likely  to  hinder 
your  doing  it  correctly  later. 

You  improve  most  in  the  definite  thing  you  study  and  prac- 
tise.   But  if  you  try  to  apply,  or  if  you  have  the  ideal  of  the 


202  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

thing  you  are  attempting,  it  may  "carry  over"  to  the  doing  of 
other  things. 

Try  to  see  the  value  of  things  you  are  learning  and  make 
them  help  you  in  other  things  wherever  possible. 

Your  methods  of  doing  things  transfer  very  often  to  doing 
other  things.  It  is  most  important,  therefore,  how  you  do 
things. 

Thorough  intensive  study  may  broaden  one  in  a  way  he 
does  not  expect. 

Memory  and  the  permanence  of  acquisition.  There  is  no 
general  memory;  there  are  rfiany  memories. 

To  remember  better,  have  better  conditions  of  study  and 
have  better  methods  of  study. 

Use  all  the  things  that  make  for  better  attention,  attitude 
and  purpose.     Have  the  intention  to  remember. 

Have  many  associations  with  the  things  you  wish  to  re- 
member. 

Use  your  knowledge. 

Take  advantage  of  frequency  of  repetition,  duration  of  the 
experience,  vividness,  recency,  primacy,  age  and  regularity. 

Learn  at  your  own  best  rate.  Go  over  material  more  slowly 
at  first,  then  at  a  faster  rate.  It  is  doubtful  as  to  whether  you 
should  try  to  study  very  fast.  It  is  valuable  to  be  able  to  study 
and  learn  quickly,  but  speed  often  means  inaccuracy.  The 
more  valuable  thing  is  to  be  accurate. 

Study  the  material  at  different  times. 

Study  by  wholes  and  not  by  parts.  Learn  what  is  the  best 
amount  of  material  to  be  studied  as  a  whole. 

Organize  your  material  wherever  you  can  and  get  the  logical 
connections.  Warm  up  to  your  work,  and  have  two  or  three 
minutes  at  the  end  of  the  study  for  a  hardening  period.  Do 
not  allow  any  distractions  at  this  time. 

Avoid  fatigue,  and  have  the  best  physical  conditions  pos- 
sible. 

Do  not  depend  upon  mnemonics  and  mnemonic  devices  ex- 
cept where  it  is  positively  necessary. 

Learn  very  thoroughly  if  you  want  to  remember  for  a  long 
time. 

The  mind  is  not  to  be  stuffed.  You  should  learn,  assim- 
ilate and  use. 

The  feelings  and  interest.  One  may  become  so  absorbed  in 
his  work  that  there  is  no  feeling  connected  with  it,  but  interest 


THE  DIRECTING  OF  LEARNING  AND  STUDY  203 

is  generally  present  in  the  best  intellectual  work.  Other  feel- 
ings are  also  desirable. 

To  help  arouse  the  desirable  feelings  and  attitude  for  study: 

Choose  the  environment,  people,  situations,  etc.,  which  sug- 
gest the  desired  attitudes.  Listen  to,  or  better,  participate  in, 
discussions  of  the  subject  you  are  studying. 

Recall  facts,  people,  accomplishments  of  others  and  of  your- 
self that  arouse  you  to  the  desired  attitude. 

Compare  your  achievement  with  that  of  others  and  of  your 
own  earlier  work. 

Have  a  motive  for  your  study. 

Be  wisely  indignant  over  your  failures,  and  direct  the  en- 
ergy aroused  to  the  study  in  hand.  One  may  appeal  to  var- 
ious instincts,  the  fighting  instinct,  for  example,  to  develop  the 
right  aggressive  attitude  towards  study.  Decide  that  you  have 
enough  fight  in  you  to  conquer  the  difficulties  in  your  lessons. 

Act  as  if  you  had  the  desired  feelings  and  they  may  come. 

To  arouse  and  develop  interest: 

Use  suggestion  of  environment;  choose  places  and  people 
that  make  you  want  to  do  your  work;  that  arouse  your 
enthusiasm. 

Attach  or  associate  something  pleasant  with  your  subject. 

Get  as  pleasant  an  introduction  to  it  as  possible;  get  as 
much  pleasant  knowledge  about  it  as  you  can. 

Take  an  attitude  towards  the  subject;  do  something  about  it. 

Find  a  use  you  can  make  of  the  knowledge  or  accomplish- 
ment; this  may  be  to  solve  problems,  to  converse  on  this  topic 
with  educated  people;  to  earn  a  living,  to  have  a  finer  appre- 
ciation of  something,  or  what  not. 

Find  definite,  concrete  examples  of  the  thoughts  with  which 
you  are  dealing. 

Purpose  and  determination  make  for  better  results  in  every 
way. 

Attention  and  sustained  effort.  The  better  the  attention, 
the  better  all  intellectual  work. 

A  student  should  practise  giving  the  best  attention  he  can  in 
all  situations.  He  should  develop  the  habit  of  concentration 
for  any  situation. 

Some  emotions  help,  for  example,  curiosity,  interest,  desire 
to  achieve,  and  the  like.  Others  hinder,  for  example,  excite- 
ment, fluster  and  worry. 

Changing  from  one  phase  of  a  topic  to  another  helps. 


204  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

Having  many  thoughts  on  a  topic  and  following  them  out  to 
their  logical  conclusions  will  aid. 

Competition  with  others  and  with  one's  own  past  record  is 
likely  to  make  for  sustained  attention. 

Have  a  purpose,  determination;  care  enough.  If  you  care 
enough  about  a  thing  you  are  likely  to  succeed.  Of  course, 
you  must  have  enough  capacity  to  start  with. 

The  suggestions  of  environment  may  help;  the  books,  rooms, 
people,  etc.,  which  give  the  right  influence. 

Avoid  the  wrong  suggestions:  the  easy  chairs,  the  comfort- 
able easy  going  people,  luxurious  and  distracting  surround- 
ings. 

To  become  relatively  independent  of  distractions,  try  to 
study  in  any  and  all  kinds  of  places,  that  is,  where  there  is 
little  and  where  there  is  much  distraction.  Persist,  care 
enough  about  doing  it,  and  hold  to  your  purpose.  This  is  the 
best  way  to  form  the  habit  of  concentration.  There  is  an 
easier  way  but  it  is  not  so  good.  That  is  to  study  at  a  certain 
time  and  in  a  certain  place.  This  will  form  time  and  place 
habits.  They  will  make  it  easy  for  you  to  study  at  the  chosen 
time  and  in  the  chosen  place.  The  reason  that  this  is  not  so 
good  is  that  it  may  make  it  difficult  for  you  to  study  at  other 
times  and  in  other  places. 

To  know  definitely  what  you  are  looking  for  will  help  you 
to  find  it.  If  you  have  a  very  clear  idea  of  what  you  expect  to 
see  you  may  think  you  see  it  when  it  is  not  there.  So  you 
must  be  careful.  You  may  also  overlook  other  important 
things. 

Do  not  mistake  the  feeling  of  fatigue  for  actual  fatigue;  and 
do  not  fall  into  the  habit  of  feeling  tired  and  having  to  stop 
study  in  a  very  short  time.     That  is  just  a  bad  habit. 

Know  clearly  and  exactly  what  you  are  to  do;  know  clearly 
and  exactly  how  to  do  it. 

Have  an  ideal  and  live  up  to  it.  Many  of  our  great  men 
have  become  great  because  they  had  an  ideal  and  lived  up  to 
that  ideal. 

Bodily  conditions.  The  best  bodily  conditions  are  the 
necessary  conditions  for  the  best  study. 

Remove  physical  difficulties  wherever  possible. 

Improve  your  mental  work  by  improving  your  health. 

Plenty  of  good,  well-prepared  food,  good  digestion  and  as- 
similation, good  light,  fresh   air,  right  temperature,  proper 


THE  DIRECTING  OF  LEARNING  AND  STUDY  205 

humidity,  and  enough  sleep  are  essentials  to  efficiency  of  both 
mind  and  body. 

Right  physical  conditions  not  only  permit  more  and  better 
work,  but  enable  you  to  do  it  with  comfort  and  enjoyment. 

Artificial  stimulants  to  work  leave  one  in  an  abnormal  con- 
dition. 

Normal  incentives  call  forth  the  best  energy,  and  leave  one 
better  ofif  for  one's  efforts, 

Suggestions  to  be  emphasized  for  all  study: 

Know  exactly  what  you  are  to  do. 

Study  with  a  definite  purpose. 

Adapt  your  method  to  the  problem  and  to  your  type  of 
mind. 

Solve  your  problem;  think  it  through  to  the  finish. 

What  you  know,  know  thoroughly. 

Organize  your  knowledge. 

Be  clear  and  be  accurate  in  all  mental  work. 

Be  wisely  thorough;  be  selective  rather  than  exhaustive. 

Make  the  best  use  of  time;  divide  your  time  well;  learn  at 
your  own  best  speed. 

Get  the  best  physical  conditions  for  study. 

Choose  the  suggestive  influences  that  will  help  you.  Elim- 
inate distractions. 

Do  not  be  disturbed  by  what  you  cannot  do.  Think  about 
what  you  are  doing  and  not  about  your  feelings. 

Forget  vourself  in  your  problem. 

BE  A  MASTER  OF  SOMETHING. 

The  teacher's  responsibility.  The  teacher's  responsibility 
includes  knowing  how  to  direct  study,  giving  the  necessary 
instructions  and  seeing  that  they  are  carried  out,  that  they  be- 
come habits  of  stud3%  and  seeing  that  physical  conditions  for 
study  are  what  they  should  be. 

Directing  study  requires  practice.  No  one  can  properly 
direct  study  without  knowing  just  how  to  do  it.  There  is  not 
only  the  danger  of  giving  insufficient  or  inadequate  help;  there 
is  also  the  danger  of  giving  too  much  help.  A  safe  maxim 
would  be:  help  the  student  to  help  himself. 

The  best  way  to  see  that  pupils  carry  out  instructions  for 
study  is  undoubtedly  in  having  stated  study  periods  which  are 
carefully  supervised.  This  makes  it  possible  to  give  instruc- 
tions, to  see  that  they  are  carried  out,  and  children  report  that 
they  are  helped  by  a  schedule  which  includes  supervised  study 
hours  because  it  helps  them  to  spend  their  time  to  better  ad- 


206 


PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 


vantage.  Several  advantages  are  apparent;  it  keeps  children 
from  the  problem  of  what  to  do  next;  of  wasting  time  getting 
started;  of  giving  too  much  time  to  favorite  subjects,  and  too 
little  to  other  subjects;  and  of  getting  into  the  habit  of  putting 
things  off  till  some  other  time.  Many  methods  have  been  tried 
and  a  period  devoted,  half  to  recitation  and  half  to  study,  has 
been  very  successful. 

The  supervision  should  include  the  seeing  that  chairs  are  of 
the  right  height  for  the  pupils,  that  the  desk  is  at  the  right 
angle;  things  that  are  not  to  be  used  should  be  put  away  so  as 
not  to  be  continually  disturbing  the  work  and  the  attention; 
and  the  like. 

Pupil's  study  card  and  schedule.  Some  such  card  as  that 
suggested  by  Reavis  and  modified  by  Parker  will  be  found  to 
be  very  useful.  The  following  (Fig.  17),  is  taken  from  Park- 
er's, Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  Schools.     (74) . 

Obverse  side  of  card. 


Name 

PUPIL'S  STUDY  PROGRAM. 
Grade 

Hour 

Study 

Recite 

9:00 

9:45 

10:30 

11:10 

1:15 

2:00 

2:45 

3:20 

1 

■    ■  ' 

Fig.  17. 


THE  DIRECTING  OF  LEARNING  AND  STUDY  207 

Reverse  of  card: 

1.  Follow  your  program  regularly. 

2.  If  possible,  study  your  lesson  immediately  after  the  as- 
signment is  made. 

3.  Take  brief  notes  and  afterwards  re-study  by  outline. 

4.  Use  dictionary  and  reference  books  for  points  not  clear- 
ly comprehended. 

5.  Concentrate  your  mind  so  that  outside  interests  will  not 
frequently  disturb  you. 

6.  Do  not  try  to  commit  exact  words  until  you  understand 
their  content. 

7.  Connect  the  important  facts  of  the  new  lesson  with  facts 
previously  learned. 

8.  Make  comparisons  and  contrasts  when  possible. 

9.  Carefully  review  and  think  over  the  previous  lesson  be- 
fore beginning  the  next. 

10.  The  extra  time  spent  on  preparation  pays  the  greatest 
intellectual  dividends. 

Going  into  details  with  the  student.  The  suggestions  given 
in  this  chapter  for  use  with  students  are  of  a  general  nature 
and  the  teacher  of  each  subject  will  find  the  necessity  of 
making  use  of  these  general  principles  and  of  going  farther 
with  the  individual  student  according  to  his  particular  needs 
and  according  to  the  particular  needs  of  the  special  subject. 
(See  suggestions  for  this  in  experiment  given  in  chapter  17). 

The  one  great  problem  for  each  student  is  to  discover  the 
particular  combination   of  methods   which   is   best  for  him. 

The  student  who  knows  the  laws  of  mind  should  also  know 
what  factors  in  the  working  of  these  laws  are  most  important 
in  his  particular  case.  The  following  suggestions  indicate 
some  features  of  the  individual  problem. 

The  teacher,  for  example,  will  try  to  get  the  pupil  to  have  a 
purpose  in  his  work.  But  for  each  student  there  is  the  prob- 
lem: What  purpose  will  you  have  for  your  work?  To  learn 
this  subject  to  help  you  in  a  certain  profession;  to  study  this 
subject  or  to  read  this  book  to  answer  certain  questions;  to 
study  one  subject  thoroughly  in  order  to  be  an  authority  on 
that  subject;  to  study  historj^  in  order  to  understand  the  great 
institutions  of  modern  life;  to  study  psychology  in  order  to 
know  the  mind  and  to  understand  many  of  the  facts  of  every 
day  experience;  to  see  a  play  in  order  to  tell  a  friend  about  it. 
or,  what  will  be  your  purpose? 


208  PKINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

Organization  is  invaluable  but  how  will  you  organize  your 
knowledge  so  that  it  will  best  serve  your  purpose?  Will  you 
arrange  all  the  facts  topically  with  main  heads  and  subheads, 
or,  if  you  are  studying  history,  will  you  place  the  facts  in 
chronological  order,  and  make  a  table  with  dates  at  the  left 
and  the  facts  for  each  date  at  the  right?  Or,  if  it  be  science, 
will  you  arrange  the  facts  under  chapter  headings,  so  to  speak, 
and  put  all  facts  in  their  appropriate  places  under  each  chap- 
ter head?  Will  you  use  large  pages  and  keep  them  in  some 
logical  order,  or  use  index  cards  and  file  them  alphabetically? 

Some  students  can  study  for  long  periods  at  a  time,  others 
find  shorter  periods  more  beneficial.  How  long  can  you 
study  at  a  time  and  get  good  results?  How  long  for  this  sub- 
ject, and  how  long  for  that?  Again  what  is  the  best  time  of 
day  for  you  to  do  your  studying,  and  at  what  time  can  you  do 
your  hardest  work? 

Rate  and  method  of  study.  The  student  must  learn  his  own 
best  rate  of  study.  The  best  speed  for  one  individual  is  not 
the  best  speed  for  others.  Most  of  us  probably  study  too  lazily 
or  else  we  leave  the  task  until  the  last  minute  and  then  rush 
through  it  too  fast.  The  best  rate  of  learning  can  be  determ- 
ined only  after  many  trials.  This  can  generally  be  done  by 
increasing  the  rate  of  learning  until  the  student  finds  that  he 
is  failing  in  clearness  of  thought  and  accuracy  of  detail,  and 
in  the  ability  to  recall  what  he  has  studied.  What  is  the  best 
rate  for  you?  What  is  the  best  rate  in  this  subject  and  what 
in  that?  How  fast  should  you  go  at  first  and  how  fast  at  later 
stages  of  progress? 

It  has  long  been  supposed  that  the  ear  minded  individual 
should  be  taught  through  the  ear;  and  the  eye  minded  child 
through  the  eye,  etc.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that  no  matter 
how  an  individual  is  taught,  he  transforms  what  he  learns  into 
his  own  kind  of  memory.  A  person  who  is  eye  minded,  may 
learn  just  as  well  by  hearing,  but  he  is  likely  to  transform  the 
sounds  of  the  words  into  visual  images  and  to  remember  them 
in  that  way.  Most  people,  have  not  only  one  kind  of  predom- 
inant imagery  with  which  they  do  most  of  their  remember- 
ing; they  are  of  mixed  memory,  so  to  speak,  and  use  several 
types  of  images.  There  are  exceptions  to  this,  and  there  are 
exceptions  to  the  fact  that  people  can  learn  about  as  easily 
through  one  sense  as  through  another.  Younger  people  prob- 
ably learn  better  through  the  ear  and  older  through  the  eye. 
But  this  is  not  always  so  and  is  not  necessarily  so. 


THE  DIRECTING  OF  LEARNING  AND  STUDY  209- 

Exceptions  to  the  general  rules  need  to  be  understood  by 
teachers.  A  child  is  reported  by  Meumann,  for  example,  who 
could  not  remember  the  outline  of  Greece  until  he  had  traced 
it.  Here  neither  seeing  nor  hearing  sufficed,  but  learning 
through  the  tactual  and  muscular  senses  was  necessary.  In- 
dividuals can  be  found  who  do  not  remember  well  until  they 
have  articulated  the  matter  to  be  learned.  The  first  fact 
stands  for  most  people,  namely,  that  it  does  not  matter  so 
much  through  what  sense  a  thing  is  learned,  the  learner  trans- 
forms what  he  learns  into  his  kind  of  imagery  or  memory. 
The  second  fact  also  stands,  namely,  that  for  some  people  a 
certain  kind  of  learning  is  necessary  in  order  that  they  may 
remember.  One  kind  of  memory  may  be  much  better  than 
any  other  kind.  The  problem  for  the  student  remains:  In 
what  way  can  you  study  and  get  the  best  result?  Should  you 
see  or  hear  or  write  out  what  you  would  remember  or  will  any 
of  those  ways  suffice  in  your  case?  Would  it  help  to  repeat 
audibly  or  semi-audibly?  etc. 

The  size  of  units  of  study  is  to  be  determined.  How  great 
an  amount  should  you  take  to  go  through  at  one  time?  How 
many  pages  of  poetry,  or  prose,  or  of  history? 

Much  failure  in  courses  is  because  of  insufficient  prepara- 
tion for  the  work.  The  student  may  not  know  enough  to  un- 
derstand the  advanced  work;  he  may  lack  concrete  facts  on 
which  to  reason;  preliminary  work  may  be  only  partly  mas- 
tered so  that  attention  cannot  be  given  wholly  to  the  work  in 
hand.  In  each  case  the  individual  must  determine  what  is 
lacking  and  how  to  make  up  for  his  deficiency. 

The  final  result.  As  a  final  problem  the  student  should 
learn  to  make  the  results  of  his  study  work  out  into  expression 
either  of  words  or  of  deeds.  One  may  have  thoughts  and  be 
unable  to  express  them;  another  may  have  great  powers  of 
expression  but  little  or  nothing  to  express.  Work  definitely 
for  the  two-fold  resultant:  the  thought  and  its  expression. 
This  is  the  combination  which  is  valuable  in  the  work  of  the 
world.  After  graduation  from  school  or  college  assume  that 
you  do  not  know  very  much  and  that  you  are  not  very  skilled 
in  expressing  what  you  do  know,  and  you  will  be  well  within 
the  facts.  You  will  also  have  the  only  safe  attitude  with  which 
to  begin  a  new  line  of  work.  Try  hard  in  your  new  work  to 
obey  instructions,  to  follow  them  exactly,  to  do  the  kind  of 
work  demanded  of  you  and  you  may  find  that  you  can  soon 


210  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

do  nearly  as  well  as  the  man  who  has  not  had  your  education. 
Continue  to  work  and  to  study  and  to  solve  your  problems  and 
you  will  find  some  day  that  your  education  will  surely  carry 
you  beyond  that  which  is  possible  for  the  man  who  is  other- 
wise your  equal  but  who  has  not  had  your  education. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  What  facts  in  your  own  experience  point  to  the  need  for 
supervised  study? 

2.  What  is  the  greatest  difficulty  that  is  found  when  teach- 
ers are  asked  to  teach  children  how  to  study? 

3.  Why  is  the  giving  of  directions  to  pupils  as  to  how  to 
study  only  the  first  step  in  supervising  study? 

4.  What  could  you  say  in  your  first  talk  to  students  on  the 
subject  of  study?  What  would  you  try  to  accomplish  in  the 
first  talk? 

5.  How  would  you  plan  later  talks  for  your  students? 

6.  What  special  preparation  do  you  need  for  instructing 
students  in  methods  of  study? 

7.  What  do  you  consider  as  the  most  important  things  for 
the  student  to  understand  thoroughly  about  study? 

8.  Discuss  the  value  of  a  study  card  for  the  student? 

9.  How  would  you  see  that  the  desirable  methods  of  study 
actually  become  habits  of  study? 

10.  How  would  you  make  allowance  for  individual  differ- 
ences among  students? 

11.  Expand  on  the  statements  in  the  book  as  to  the  final 
result  of  study. 

REFERENCES. 

JuDD,  G.  H.  Psychology  of  High  School  Subjects.  Ginn  and  Go. 
1915.     Gh.   18. 

McMuRRY,  F.  M.  How  to  Studij  and  Teaching  How  to  Studij.  Hough- 
ton, Mifflin  Go.     1909. 

Parker,  S.  G.  Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  Schools.  Ginn  and  Go. 
1915.     Gh.  16. 

Swain,  G.  F.  How  to  Study.  McGraw-Hill  Book  Go.,  Inc.,  N.  Y. 
1917. 

Whipple,  G.  M.  How  to  Study  Effectively.  School  and  Home  Edu- 
cation, Jan.  1916  and  following  numbers.  Issued  in  book  form  by 
Public  School  Publishing  Go.,  Bloomington,  111.     1916. 


Chapter  17. 
SUPERVISED  STUDY  AND  THE  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM. 

Methods  outlined.  Various  arrangements  have  been  made 
in  schools  for  the  purpose  of  fitting  in  supervised  study.  This 
is  not  adding  a  new  study.  If  so,  there  would  be  good  reasoa 
to  doubt  the  advisability  of  making  the  attempt.  The  change 
consists  in  introducing  better  methods  of  doing  work  that  is 
already  demanded.  Its  justification  lies  in  the  better  results 
that  have  already  been  obtained. 

We  may  outline  the  methods  that  have  been  tried  and  those 
that  may  be  worthy  of  trial  under  the  varying  conditions  of 
different  schools.  In  a  general  way  we  may  say  that  the 
methods  involve: 

A.  L     The  use  of  a  regular  teacher. 
2.     The  use  of  a  special  teacher. 

B.  1.     Separate    hours   for   instructions   in   study   during 

school  session. 

2.  Special  times  appointed  by  the  principal  . 

3.  The  division  of  each  regular  school  period. 

4.  The  double  period. 

5.  Conferences,  during  or  after  school,  for  individuals 
or  groups  of  children. 

6.  Extra  time  during  the  regular  session,  or  in  summer. 

7.  The  use  of  the  general  study  hall. 

The  use  of  the  regular  teacher.  Where  supervised  study 
has  been  tried,  the  regular  teacher  has  commonly  been  called 
upon  to  do  the  supervising.  If  he  supervises  his  own  pupils 
in  his  own  subjects  there  is  the  advantage  that  he  knows  ex- 
actly what  is  needed  and  understands  better  than  a  special 
teacher  the  particular  difficulties  and  individual  differences 
of  his  particular  pupils.  This  requires  no  addition  to  the 
teaching  staff,  but  it  does  require  that  the  teachers  learn  how 
to  direct  study.  It  would  likely  be  found  that  emphasis  on 
supervised  study  would  be  only  an  extension  and  methodical 
administration  of  that  which  is  now  done  by  most  teachers  in 
a  poor  and  haphazard,  and  therefore,  in  a  much  less  effective 
way. 

211 


212  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

The  use  of  a  special  teacher.  In  many  schools  a  special 
teacher  who  shall  give  his, whole  time  to  directing  study  has 
been  found  to  be  most  beneficial.  Such  a  teacher  can  be  a 
specialist  in  the  subject.  Being  a  specialist,  he  can  put  more 
study,  interest,  and  enthusiasm,  into  this  work  as  the  one 
great  purpose  of  his  teaching.  This  advantage  does  not  hold 
where  the  special  teacher  is  a  student  of  a  Normal  School 
doing  this  work  to  finish  the  requirements  for  a  diploma.  If 
the  special  teacher  is  obliged  to  coach  in  all  subjects,  it  is 
obvious  that  he  cannot  be  as  well  acquainted  with  each  sub- 
ject as  the  regular  teachers.  Neither  is  he  as  well  acquainted 
with  the  individual  difTiculties  of  each  pupil. 

Both  methods  valuable.  Both  methods  have  proved  valu- 
able find  it  is  perhaps  too  early  to  say  which  is  the  better. 
What  is  better  for  one  school  may  not  be  better  for  another 
school.  As  in  other  matters  of  administration,  the  problem 
will  need  to  be  worked  out  for  each  school.  This  is  true  also 
in  regard  to  the  fitting  of  supervised  study  into  the  curriculum. 

Separate  times  for  instruction  in  study  during  the  school 
session.  One  solution  for  the  problem  of  how  to  find  time  for 
supervised  study  is  to  take  the  time  in  place  of  other  work, 
either,  by  taking  a  whole  period  for  this  in  place  of  other 
work,  or,  by  shortening  several  periods,  and  using  the  time 
thus  gained. 

If  the  former  method  is  used,  different  hours^may  be  used 
on  succeeding  days.  On  the  first  day,  the  first  period  can  be 
given  to  supervised  study  throughout  the  school;  on  the  second 
day,  the  second  period  can  be  used,  and  so  on,  until  each  class 
has  been  instructed  in  methods  of  studying  each  subject.  This 
can  then  be  repeated. 

The  latter  method  is  probably  better  for  things  that  are  not 
to  be  so  regular  as  supervised  study  should  be.  This  virtually 
means  changing  the  schedule  and  rather  than  make  a  change 
like  this  permanent,  some  other  more  satisfactory  plan  should 
be  found. 

Special  times  appointed  by  the  principal.  Another  method 
is  that  of  having  special  periods  set  aside  by  the  principal, 
this  can  be  done  so  as  to  sandwich  in  the  supervised  study 
where  there  seems  to  be  a  good  chance,  or  as  a  special  feature. 
But  this,  again,  does  not  give  the  uniformity  needed,  and  is 
likely  to  be  only  a  very  inadequate  way  of  solving  the  prob- 
lem. This  is  better  than  nothing  and  where  doubt  exists  as  to 
the  value  of  supervised  study,  a  few  trials  well  managed  might 


SUPERVISED  STUDY  213 

prove  its  worth  and  show  the  value  of  regular,  methodical, 
supervision. 

The  division  of  every  period,  part  for  supervised  study.  A 
method  which  has  found  favor  with  many  teachers  is  the 
division  of  each  period,  so  th^t  part  is  given  to  the  work  as 
ordinarily  carried  on,  and  part  given  to  teaching  the  pupils 
how  to  study  the  next  lesson.  A  division  of  half  and  half  has 
been  successful  in  some  schools.  The  first  part  of  the  time  is 
given  to  recitation  and  discussion,  the  second  half  of  the  hour 
is  used  for  giving  directions  to  students  as  to  how  they  are  to 
go  to  work.  The  pupils  are  made  definitely  conscious  of  the 
particular  problems  they  have  to  solve.  Here  each  teacher 
has  the  opportunity  to  apply  all  the  knowledge  he  has  regard- 
ing the  application  of  principles  of  study  to  his  particular 
lesson.  Making  the  assignment  is  a  very  definite  part  of  this 
second  half  of  the  period.  It  is  carefully  prepared  and  made 
part  of  the  teaching  of  the  next  lesson.  Teaching  the  children 
how  to  work  out  this  assignment  follows.  A  little  home  study 
to  finish  lesson  and  for  daily  review  is  very  desirable. 

There  is  much  to  be  said  for  this  method.  It  has  proved  so 
successful  in  some  schools,  that  more  than  half  of  the  period 
is  given  to  teaching  how  to  study.  The  chief  preparation  of 
the  teacher  for  this  kind  of  lesson  is  preparation  in  the  meth- 
ods of  study,  and,  needless  to  say,  this  work  is  very  different 
from  the  giving  of  lessons  in  the  old  way.  Contrary  to  expec- 
tation, it  is  found  that  there  is  plenty  for  the  teacher  to  do  and 
say  in  teaching  pupils  how  to  study  the  next  lesson.  The 
teacher  finds  that  this  is  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  period. 
This  method  can  be  started  without  a  single  change  in  the  cur- 
riculum. 

The  double  period.  Some  schools  have  what  is  called  the 
double  period.  For  example,  forty  minutes  are  given  to  the 
recitation  as  now  commonly  carried  on;  the  next  forty  min- 
utes are  given  to  directing  the  study  of  the  new  lesson.  This 
has  proved  successful  in  not  a  few  schools.  One  outcome  is 
that  there  is  more  school  study  and  less  home  study.  The 
school  study  appears  to  be  superior  to  the  home  study,  and 
the  same  amount  of  time  spent  in  directed  study  at  school 
gives  far  better  results  than  the  home  work. 

Study  conferences.  Individuals  or  groups  of  pupils,  who 
need  special  help,  may  by  special  appointment,  meet  with  the 
regular  teacher  at  a  time  when  he  has  a  vacant  period.  Or,  if 
there  is  a  special  teacher,  these  pupils  may  be  assigned  to  cer- 


214  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

tain  hours  when  they  shall  meet  the  special  teacher  and  re- 
ceive the  needed  help.  Such  conferences  may  be  used  for 
both  backward  pupils  who  need  help  to  keep  up  with  their 
classes,  or  for  bright  pupils,  who  with  special  help  may  skip 
a  grade.  This  latter  plan  is  a  good  way  of  solving  the  problem 
of  dealing  with  supernormal  children  in  schools  where  there 
is  no  adequate  provision  for  them.  It  is  possible  by  means  of 
such  conferences  to  work  out  many  problems  arising  from  the 
individual  differences  of  pupils  in  large  classes.  Pupils  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  class  may  be  helped  not  only  to  keep  up  with 
their  class  but  encouraged  to  stay  in  school  and  do  their  best. 
Particular  defects  and  difficulties  may  be  discovered,  which 
might  not  otherwise  become  known.  A  little  help  at  the  right 
time  may  save  the  individual  pupil  much  loss  of  time.  The 
most  economical  way  to  deal  with  repeaters  is  to  prevent  their 
ever  becoming  such. 

Extra  study  periods.  For  cases  in  which  the  regular  school 
periods  do  not  seem  adequate,  extra  time  has  been  used  with 
immensely  valuable  results.  The  simplest  way  is  the  taking 
of  half  an  hour  or  so  after  the  regular  school  session.  Some 
schools  have  made  use  of  Saturday  morning  for  coaching 
backward  pupils.  A  greater  extension  of  this  principle  is 
found  in  special  summer  sessions  for  coaching  not  only  back- 
ward pupils,  but  also  supernormals.  The  backward  pupils 
are  helped  so  they  can  go  on  with  their  classes;  the  supernor- 
mals so  that  they  can  skip  a  grade. 

Directing  study  in  the  general  study  hall.  If  there  is  a  gen- 
eral assembly  hall  in  which  students  not  in  attendance  at  a 
class  or  laboratory  meet  to  do  their  studying,  there  is  an  op- 
portunity to  help  them  in  their  methods  of  study.  The  teach- 
er in  charge  of  such  a  room  is  likely  to  have  too  many  other 
duties  at  this  time.  There  are  difficulties  of  many  kinds  aris- 
ing in  many  subjects  and  the  problem  of  discipline  may  inter- 
fere. At  best,  the  use  of  this  time  for  supervising  study  is  but 
a  makeshift  and  not  systematic  enough  to  give  the  best  re- 
sults. The  teacher,  unless  he  is  a  special  coach,  is  not  likely 
to  be  prepared  to  help  pupils  with  all  the  difficulties  that  arise 
in  the  different  subjects.  In  this  limited  time  the  teacher  can 
give  adequate  help  to  only  a  few  of  all  who  are  in  need  of  it. 

Essential  factors  in  the  administration  of  study  supervision. 
Among  the  most  essential  factors  in  the  planning  of  supervised 
study  in  the  school  are  the  following:  The  supervised  study 
should  have  a  regular  place  in  the  curriculum.     It  should  not 


SUPERVISED  STUDY  215 

be  left  to  chance  or  occasional  use,  but  requires  just  as  much 
place  as  any  other  work  of  the  school.  Each  child  should  re- 
ceive his  share  of  help;  the  plan  should  not  merely  permit, 
but  should  require  a  certain  amount  of  supervision  for  each 
child  in  each  subject.  This  will  help  to  eliminate  the  pupil's 
practice  of  having  trouble  for  the  purpose  of  getting  special 
attention.  The  teacher,  if  not  a  special  coach,  should  super- 
vise his  own  subject,  and  should  know  the  particular  difficul- 
ties of  the  children  and  the  inherent  obstacles  in  the  lessons. 
Attention  should  be  given  to  the  right  methods,  not  to  that 
which  should  not  be  done,  except  where  necessary  to  break 
up  an  old  bad  habit.  Correct  methods  should  be  made  fully 
conscious  to  the  pupil  at  first  and  then  made  completely  form- 
ed habits.  Informal,  personal,  encouraging  help  gives  the 
best  results.  Marks  should  be  given  for  methods  of  study  as 
well  as  for  the  results  of  study.  And,  it  should  be  remember- 
ed, just  because  time  has  been  given  to  teach  the  pupil  how  to 
study,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  he  will  know  how,  or  even 
know  that  he  has  been  instructed  in  the  matter.  He  must  be 
instructed,  and  made  explicitly  conscious  of  method,  and  then 
tested  in  his  knowledge  of  how  to  study. 

An  Experiment  in  Supervised  Study  in  the  Grade  Schools 
and  in  the  Normal  Practice  School,  Athens,  Ga.  The  re- 
mainder of  this  chapter  gives  an  outline  of  an  experiment 
(25)  which  is  being  made  in  the  grade  schools  of  Athens  and 
in  the  Normal  Practice  School.  Six  typewritten  pages  of  di- 
rections were  made  out  and  besides  having  conferences  with 
teachers  the  writer  has  gone  into  the  school  room  to  try  out 
some  of  them  himself.  The  directions  for  the  various  sub- 
jects are  given  for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  start  in  the  super- 
vision of  each  subject  in  the  school.  The  author  offers  them 
for  the  purpose  of  criticism  and  trial  by  the  teachers  who  use 
them.  He  desires  to  know  in  what  way  they  are  useful  and 
in  what  ways  they  should  be  modified  to  be  made  more  valu- 
able for  school  room  work. 

The  statement  of  this  experiment  necessitates  repetition  of 
a  small  part  of  chapter  16.  Many  of  the  statements  are  how- 
ever, quite  difTerently  worded  and  the  bringing  together  of  a 
few  selected  directions  used  in  talking  to  pupils  is  not  without 
its  advantages.  A  usable  selection  for  young  students  is  thus 
indicated  and  it  is  a  concrete  illustration  of  how  selections 
may  be  made  from  earlier  chapters  for  talks  to  students.  The 
selection  given  below  might  well  indicate  the  type  of  talk  de- 


216  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

sirable  for  beginners.  For  older  students  other  selections 
should  be  made  and  these  fundamental  principles  reviewed. 

The  directions  are  as  follows: 

General  suggestions  for  study.  What  you  study  is  very  im- 
portant. How  you  study  is  more  important.  The  way  you 
study  should  always  be  the  best  way.  This  becomes  habit  and 
is  a  very  part  of  you.  If  you  get  good  habits  of  study  you  can 
learn  very  much  more  quickly.  You  will  also  be  better  able 
to  study  by  yourself  when  there  is  no  teacher  present  and  after 
you  leave  school. 

You  have  heard  that  it  is  important  to  know  how  to  use  the 
hands.     It  is  more  important  to  know  how  to  use  the  mind. 

You  will  be  helped  by  these  better  methods  only  if  you  use 
them.  To  hear  about  them  will  do  you  no  good  unless  you 
use  them. 

Getting  started.  1.  Always  learn  correctly  the  first  time, 
never  learn  anything  incorrectly.  What  is  once  learned  can- 
not ever  be  entirely  unlearned.  Fully  formed  habits  are  the 
ones  that  make  you  expert.  That  is  the  reason  the  football 
squad  has  to  practise  so  long  and  so  hard. 

2.  Get  a  good  start  and  start  promptly.  Do  not  waste  time 
beginning.  Probably  half  a  minute  is  more  than  enough  time 
to  take  to  get  started. 

3.  Always  have  ready  the  things  you  need  with  which  to 
study. 

4.  Put  everything  else  away. 

5.  Know  exactly  what  you  are  to  do,  how  to  do  it,  and  when 
to  stop. 

Study  and  thinking.  6.  To  be  clear  and  to  be  accurate 
are  the  most  important  things  in  all  study  and  in  solving  the 
problems  of  life. 

7.  Know  exactly  the  aim  of  every  lesson.  Adapt  your 
method  to  that  aim.  Do  exactly  what  you  set  out  to  do  or 
know  why  you  do  something  else  and  that  it  is  right  to  change. 

8.  Understand  what  the  lesson  calls  for.  Know  exactly 
what  is  given  and  what  you  have  to  get. 

9.  Imitate,  but  imitate  only  the  best.  Then  think  out  a 
better  way. 

10.  Reason  out  things  for  yourself  and  get  into  the  habit 
of  reasoning  for  yourself. 

11.  You  are  not  to  learn  everything.  You  should  be  able 
to  pick  out  the  most  important  things  and  learn  these  thor- 
oughly. 


SUPERVISED  STUDY  217 

12.  After  selecting  the  most  important  things  you  should 
organize  them  in  your  mind  or  on  paper. 

13.  It  is  very  helpful  to  outline  things  on  paper.  The  out- 
line should  be  by  topics  and  sub-topics. 

14.  All  study  should  be  by  topics  and  sub-topics.  That  is 
the  way  you  use  your  knowledge  later. 

15.  Always  give  good  attention  to  the  things  you  want  to 
understand  and  to  remember. 

16.  Find  a  concrete  example  to  help  you  understand  and 
remember. 

Making  acquisition  permanent.  17.  To  master  anything 
you  need  to  practise  it.  Drill,  doing  things  again  and  again, 
using  knowledge,  is  all  important. 

18.  Try  to  find  an  application  for  everything  you  learn. 

19.  Frequent  reviews  will  give  you  the  best  results  for  the 
time  you  spend. 

20.  Learn  to  help  yourself  just  as  much  as  possible.  And 
do  not  get  the  idea  you  are  studying  just  because  the  teacher 
gives  you  a  lesson.  You  are  studying  to  improve  yourself  and 
to  get  ahead. 

21.  To  remember  better  get  better  methods  of  learning. 

22.  Have  the  intention  to  remember,  the  will  to  remember. 

23.  Learn  at  your  own  best  rate.  Go  slower  at  first,  then 
faster. 

24.  Twenty  to  thirty  minutes  are  long  enough  to  study  new 
things  at  one  time. 

25.  Study  the  same  lesson  at  different  times.  Study  a  les- 
son as  soon  as  possible  after  it  is  assigned;  then  review  it  be- 
fore the  next  recitation. 

26.  Memorize  by  wholes  not  by  parts.  This  whole  method 
may  not  help  you  at  first  and  you  may  think  for  a  long  time 
that  the  part  method  is  better.  You  need  to  get  used  to  the 
whole  method. 

27.  If  certain  parts  are  very  hard,  begin  with  the  whole 
method;  then  study  the  hardest  parts  by  themselves;  and 
finish  with  the  whole  method. 

Interest,  attitude  and  physical  conditions.  28.  Get  inter- 
ested. Find  something  pleasant  in  your  lesson;  compete  with 
your  past  reconi;  find  a  use  you  can  make  of  what  you  are 
learning;  make  it  a  game  and  play  the  game. 

29.  Be  glad  to  do  hard  and  unpleasant  study  so  as  to  be- 
come indifferent  to  unpleasant  tasks.  Don't  let  the  difficulty 
throw  you  down. 


218  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

30.  Learn  things  as  though  you  were  going  to  tell  them  to 
someone,  and  make  them  see  them. 

31.  Have  a  purpose,  a  determination;  care  enough.  If  you 
care  enough  about  a  thing  you  are  much  more  likely  to  suc- 
ceed. 

32.  One  of  the  greatest  secrets  of  study  is  to  be  able  to  give 
good  attention  whenever  you  want  to  no  matter  what  is  going 
on  around  you.  If  you  cannot  do  this  learn  to  study  at  cer- 
tain times  and  in  a  certain  place.  You  will  thus  get  time  and 
place  habits  and  these  will  make  it  easier  to  study,  although 
though  it  may  be  harder  to  study  at  any  other  times  and 
places.  It  is  better  to  make  yourself  study  in  any  place  and 
with  any  kind  of  distraction  if  you  can. 

33.  Keep  well.  Have  plenty  of  good  food  and  enough 
sleep.  Eat  sufficient  but  not  too  much.  Have  fresh  air,  right 
temperature  (65  degrees  to  68  degrees  F.),  right  humidity 
(about  50  per  cent.),  and  good  light.  Improve  your  study  by 
improving  your  health.     Remove  any  physical  defects. 

34.  Do  not  try  to  do  too  much.  Don't  be  disturbed  by  what 
you  cannot  do.  Think  about  what  you  are  doing  and  forget 
your  feelings. 

35.  BE  A  MASTER  OF  SOMETHING. 

How  to  study  reading,  (Reading  to  get  meaning  is  here 
distinguished  from  oral  reading,  the  latter  is  important,  the 
former  is  fundamental  to  all  study). 

1.  You  must  be  able  to  read  accurately;  this  is  necessary 
for  studying  other  subjects. 

2.  Get  the  main  subject  or  title. 

3.  Look  for  the  leading  thoughts. 

4.  Pick  out  the  leading  thoughts,  then  sub-topics,  illus- 
trations, reasons,  etc. 

5.  Outline  these  in  your  mind  or  on  paper. 

6.  Be  sure  to  get  the  thought,  the  meaning,  and  be  able  to 
state  it  in  your  own  words. 

7.  Write  on  paper  all  new  words  and  look  them  up  in  your 
dictionary. 

8.  Also  try  to  reason  out  meanings  of  new  words  from  1) 
their  form,  2)  their  context. 

How  to  study  history.     1.     Get  the  main  subject. 

2.  Read  through  quickly  to  get  a  general  idea  of  assign- 
ment. 

3.  Pick  out  the  main  topics,  and  the  sub-topics. 

4.  Learn  how  to  do  this. 


#  ■ 

SUPERVISED  STUDY  219 

5.  Be  sure  that  you  understand  them. 

6.  Thoroughly  learn  the  facts  you  have  selected. 

7.  Organize  these  facts  in  your  mind. 

8.  Outline  them  on  paper  if  you  cannot  master  them  with- 
out doing  so. 

9.  Find  examples  in  other  history,  especially,  in  modern 
history,  to  illustrate  what  you  learn. 

10.  Make  a  list  of  things  you  do  not  understand  and  look 
them  up  or  ask  the  teacher  about  them. 

11.  Helps:  make  charts,  make  maps,  picture  people  and 
events  to  yourself,  or  make  a  little  play  to  illustrate  them. 

How  to  studif  science.  1.  Observe  experiments  carefully, 
or  read  carefully. 

2.  Note  facts, — do  not  be  led  away  from  the  facts  by  look- 
ing merely  at  the  apparatus. 

3.  See  what  the  facts  mean. 

4.  Do  they  teach  any  general  law  or  principle?  Try  to 
find  one. 

5.  Try  to  see  applications  of  these  facts, — of  these  laws. 
Try  to  make  applications  in,  1)  the  laboratory,  2)  in  the 
schoolroom,  3)  at  home,  4)  to  explain  everyday  things.    . 

6.  Outline  the  facts,  laws  and  applications  in  your  note- 
book. 

7.  Do  these  facts  and  laws  make  any  difference  in  the  way 
people  do  things  or  should  they  make  a  difference?  How? 

8.  Distinguish  between  facts  and  laws,  and  the  explanation 
of  the  facts  and  laws. 

How  to  study  mathematics.  1.  Recall  what  you  know  that 
will  help  you. 

2.  Be  sure  you  understand  the  signs,  symbols,  etc. 

3.  Understand  your  problem.  This  requires  the  ability  to 
read. 

4.  Find  out  what  principle  should  be  used.     Know  why. 

5.  Know  how  to  apply  the  principle. 

6.  Know  each  step  in  doing  the  problem  and  how  to  do  it. 

7.  Know  how  to  verify  and  be  sure  to  verify.  Know  how 
to  verify  when  the  answer  is  not  given  in  the  book. 

8.  Drill  for  quickness  and  accuracy;  do  examples  for  this. 

9.  Review  principles  whenever  necessary. 

10.  How  do  you  know  when  you  are  right?  When  you 
have  proved  anything? 

11.  If  you  use  model  examples  be  sure  that  you  understand 
how  and  when  to  use  them. 


% 

220  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

English  composition.  1.  Have  something  you  want  very 
much  to  say. 

2.  Think  it  through  clearly. 

3.  Get  your  thoughts  arranged  on  paper  in  outline. 

4.  Think  of  your  reader. 

5.  Try  to  make  him  see  the  thing  as  clearly  as  you  do. 

6.  Do  not  hesitate;  plunge  in  and  try. 

7.  Notice  the  good  language  of  speakers  and  writers. 

8.  Memorize  good  language  of  others;  imitate  only  good 
language. 

9.  Try  to  improve  your  language;  this  helps  you  to  think 
better. 

10.  Remember  that  good  writing  is  one  of  the  greatest  and 
hardest  accomplishments  of  the  human  mind.  It  is  hard  for 
others  as  well  as  you. 

Manual  Training  and  Domestic  Science.  1.  Have  a  clear 
idea  of  the  thing  to  be  done  or  to  be  made. 

2.  Understand  the  principles  involved. 

3.  Do  the  thing  correctly  and  practise  doing  it  correctly. 

4.  Imitate  from  demonstration  of  the  teacher;  imitate  only 
good  models. 

5.  Try  to  do  well  rather  than  fast. 

6.  Criticize  your  own  work. 

Results.  It  is  too  soon  to  give  any  quantitative  statement 
of  results.  It  is  possible  however  to  state  that  many  pupils 
have  been  helped.  Some  who  were  backward  are  now  doing 
much  better  work.  Some  who  were  little  interested  have 
found  a  new  interest  in  their  study.  Greater  self-reliance 
has  appeared  in  several  cases.  The  writer  wishes  to  empha- 
size again  that  these  directions  are  only  for  making  a  begin- 
ning, that  they  must  be  worked  over  by  the  teachers  them- 
selves in  the  school  room,  but  that  so  far  they  have  improved 
the  work  of  many  pupils  very  appreciably.  The  author  will 
consider  it  a  favor  if  any  one  who  may  use  them  will  send  him 
any  suggestions,  criticisms,  or  statements  of  results.  Every 
teacher  must  find  his  own  way  of  approach  in  using  them. 
The  writer's  experience  in  the  school  room  indicates  that  it  is 
most  advisable  to  take  a  certain  lesson,  and  while  explaining 
how  to  study  it,  make  the  pupils  go  through  the  successive 
steps  in  a  very  thorough  fashion.  A  few  steps  may  be  used 
for  the  first  lesson,  more  steps  another  day,  and  so  forth,  until 
all  the  steps  are  completed.     It  will  take  longer  at  first  to  fol- 


SUPERVISED  STUDY  221 

low  the  methods  indicated  above.     But  the  pupils  will  learn 
more,  and  later  will  work  rapidly  with  these  methods. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  Think  of  some  particular  school  system  with  which  you 
are  familiar.  What  problems  would  arise  in  the  attempt  to 
put  supervised  study  into  the  curriculum? 

2.  Pick  out  what  you  think  are  the  most  useful  of  the 
methods  outlined  in  this  chapter  for  putting  supervised  study 
into  the  curriculum  and  give  your  reasons. 

3.  What  are  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of,  1)  the 
special  director  of  study,  2)  the  direction  of  study  by  the  regu- 
lar teacher. 

4.  What  do  you  consider  the  essential  factors  that  should 
be  considered  in  any  system  of  supervised  study  in  a  school? 
Name  any  that  you  can  that  are  not  mentioned  in  the  text. 

5.  Try  to  outline  directions  for  study  for  some  subject  for 
which  the  outline  is  not  given  in  the  report  of  the  experiment 
mentioned  in  the  text. 

6.  Could  you  suggest  a  plan  for  directing  study  so  that 
pupils  beginning  in  the  fourth  or  fifth  grade  could  be  taught 
increasingly  more  in  each  succeeding  grade  on  up  through  the 
high  school?  What  would  you  do  in  each  grade?  W^ith  what 
subject  or  subjects  would  you  begin?  Could  you  arrange  for 
increasingly  more  difficult  problems  for  each  grade? 

REFERENCES. 

Hall-Quest,  A.  L.  Supervised  Study.  Macmillan.  1916.  Chs. 
5  and  6. 

McMuRRY,  F.  M.  How  to  Study  and  Teaching  How  to  Study.  Hough- 
ton, Mfllin  Co.     1909. 

Parker,  S.  C.  Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  Schools.  Ginn  and  Co. 
1915.     Ch.  16. 

Swain,  G.  F.  How  to  Study.  McGraw-Hill  Book  Co.,  Inc.,  N.  Y. 
1917. 

Whipple,  G.  M.  How  to  Study  Effectively.  School  and  Home  Edu- 
cation, Jan.  1916  and  following  numbers.  Also  issued  in  book  form: 
Public-School  Pub.  Co.,  Bloomington,  111.     1916. 


Chapter  18. 
DEFINITENESS  IN  AIM  AND  IN  METHOD. 

The  need  of  definiteness.  "It  is  true,"  writes  Professor 
Snedden,  "that  the  largest  single  problem  to  be  solved  on  be- 
half of  the  high  school  of  today  is  that  of  a  clearer  definition 
of  the  valid  aims  of  secondary  education."     (90). 

"The  most  impressive  fact,"  writes  Professor  Judd,  "which 
stands  out  in  examining  the  results  of  a  series  of  tests  is  the 
need  in  schools  of  more  definite  standards  of  work.  Teach- 
ers are  working  in  ignorance  of  what  they  ought  to  accomp- 
lish." (52)  It  is  clear  from  a  psychological  point  of  view 
that  if  teachers  are  going  to  secure  definite  results,  they  must 
know  what  results  they  are  to  obtain.  One  may  do  traditional 
things  and  cover  the  traditional  number  of  pages  of  a  text 
book.  But  it  is  another  matter  to  know  definitely  just  what  is 
to  be  accomplished  and  to  be  able  to  accomplish  it.  The  psy- 
chologist hopes  to  be  able  to  help  the  teacher  obtain  desired 
results  by  helping  to  improve  method. 

We  have  already  shown  that  the  habit  theory  is  true  to  the 
multitude  of  facts  that  appear  in  connection  with  the  educa- 
tive process  in  the  individual.  It  has,  as  has  also  been  said, 
the  advantage  of  definiteness.  Warning  must  again  be  given 
against  attempting  to  interpret  anything  so  broad  as  education 
under  too  narrow  a  theory.  But  it  must  also  be  emphasized 
that  this  is  not  a  narrow  theory.  For  habit  as  we  have  de- 
fined it  includes  habitudes,  interests,  attitudes,  all,  indeed, 
that  may  be  considered  more  or  less  permanent  tendencies  as 
the  result  of  learning.  It  is  at  least  worthy  of  consideration 
that  we  take  habit  in  this  sense  as  the  great  fundamental  basis 
of  educational  practice  and  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
great  ends  of  education  which  may  then  be  formulated  in 
more  general  terms  such  as  social  efficiency  and  character. 
Again  let  us  remember  that  habits  are  not  so  unmodifiable  and 
that  plasticity  is  not  so  easily  lost  as  has  been  commonly 
thought.  And  further  that  progress  in  learning  of  any  kind 
shows  just  this  making  and  modification  of  habit.  It  is  fitting 
that  we  look  at  this  most  important  matter  of  definiteness  a 

222 


DEFINITENESS  IN  AIM  AND  IN   METHOD  223 

little  closer  and  consider  a  few  of  the  problems  of  the  school 
in  this  connection. 

Social  values.  The  vagueness  of  aim  and  the  varieties  of 
aim  are  not  denied.  In  fact  they  are  admitted  and  emphasiz- 
ed from  all  sides.  The  psychologist  can  only  add  to  the  de- 
mand for  greater  cooperation  for  deciding  what  the  legitimate 
aims  should  be.  These,  no  doubt,  must  be  decided  in  terms  of 
social  value.  The  examination  of  values  of  the  various  sub- 
jects to  which  the  curriculum  is  being  subjected  today  is  inevi- 
table and  of  great  promise.  No  one  more  than  the  psychol- 
ogist realizes  the  need  for  definiteness  of  aim.  For  it  is  only 
as  he  knows  what  is  to  be  accomplished  that  he  can  render 
the  service  of  working  out  the  most  efficient  methods  for  ob- 
taining those  results. 

The  binding  force  of  tradition.  Students  of  education  have 
been  joined  by  the  disappointed  and  questioning  parents  in 
considering  the  problem  as  to  why  certain  subjects  are  taught 
in  the  schools.  The  answer  has  been  in  many  respects  that 
things  are  not  of  the  value  that  had  been  supposed.  And  the 
reorganization  of  text  books  shows  the  elimination  of  many 
parts  of  subjects  hitherto  supposed  to  be  necessary.  Whole 
subjects  have  been  dropped,  for  example,  Greek,  and  Latin 
is  perhaps  the  storm  center  of  discussion  at  the  present  time. 
Latin  and  English  afford  typical  illustration  of  certain  facts 
and  principles. 

The  case  of  Latin.  It  is  interesting  to  trace  the  shifting  de- 
fense of  Latin  in  the  schools.  Latin  has  been  considered 
essential  to  a  liberal  education.  When  Latin  was  introduced 
it  was  the  road  to  a  liberal  education.  It  was  necessary  for 
one  to  know  Latin  in  order  to  obtain  a  liberal  education,  if 
not  any  kind  of  an  education,  because  the  things  that  were  to 
be  learned  were  written  only  in  Latin.  This  reason  for  learn- 
ing Latin  no  longer  exists,  nor  has  it  existed  for  a  good  many 
years.  The  case  is  clear.  The  conditions  which  demanded 
the  study  of  Latin  ceased  to  exist.  The  binding  force  of  tra- 
dition has  continued. 

Latin  and  the  professions.  The  foundations  of  the  old  argu- 
ment having  been  carried  away,  the  defense  shifted.  Latin 
was  useful  in  the  professions  of  law,  theology,  philology,  his- 
tory, etc.  Any  language  may  be  useful  to  the  historian  or  the 
philologist,  but  we  are  not  all  sufficiently  interested  in  either 
of  these  subjects  to  make  Latin  necessary  and  few  would  ever 
make  it  useful  to  any  appreciable  extent.     As  for  law,  we  have 


224  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

been  told  many  times  that  the  Latin  used  in  law  is  not  the 
classical  Latin  and  that  the  classical  student  is  obliged  to 
learn  the  law  Latin  when  he  comes  to  it.  As  a  jurist  puts  it,, 
the  Latin  used  in  law  is  so  different  that  even  persons  of  good 
classical  education  cannot  understand  it.  The  theologian  is 
quite  likely  to  study  Greek,  or  Greek  and  Hebrew,  in  prefer- 
ence to  Latin. 

Roman  literature.  Again  the  defense  shifted.  One  should 
study  Latin  in  order  to  gain  a  knowledge  of  the  rich  treasures 
of  Roman  literature.  In  this  also  one  may  find  recreation 
and  pleasure  after  the  day's  toil.  But  it  has  been  discovered 
that  it  takes  many  years  of  study  of  Latin  to  have  the  treasures 
of  Roman  literature  opened  up  by  that  means.  One  must 
spen<i  seven  to  ten  years  in  the  study  in  order  to  have  any 
very  great  facility  with  the  language.  Those  who  maintain 
that  this  is  too  great  a  price  to  pay,  especially  inasmuch  as 
this  material  can  be  had  for  the  most  part  in  English,  have 
nat  been  satisfactorily  answered.  Much  may  be  l-ost  in  trans- 
lations, and  by  the  same  token,  much  more  is  likely  to  be  lost 
by  the  poor  translations  of  most  students.  It  is  yet  to  be 
proved  that  a  student  can  not  get  more  by  using  a  good  trans- 
lation than  by  making  his  own  translations,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  vast  amount  of  difference  in  the  expenditure  of  time.  The 
argument  for  Latin  as  a  recreation  is  negligible. 

Latin  for  mental  training.  But  another  defense  is  added. 
Study  Latin  to  train  the  mind.  But  psychologists  are  thor- 
oughly persuaded  that  there  is  no  such  general  transfer  of 
training  as  was  earlier  thought  and  there  is  probably  a  small 
amount  of  improvement  in  one  subject  because  of  improve- 
ment in  another;  just  what  general  improvement  there  is 
must  be  shown,  but  not  by  comparing  classical  students  who 
have  studied  Latin  four  to  seven  or  more  years  with  scientific 
students  who  have  studied  one  science  one  or  two  years.  And 
also  not  by  comparing  the  best  taught  subject  in  the  curricu- 
lum, as  Latin  is  known  to  be,  with  results  of  poorer  teaching 
in  other  subjects. 

But,  at  least,  study  Latin  to  improve  your  English.  This 
sounds  plausible  as  we  know  that  English  comes  largely  from 
the  Latin.  But  competent  observers  tell  us  that  in  many  cases, 
at  least,  it  is  very  questionable  whether  or  not  the  study  of 
Latin  ^contributes  results  of  very  much  value  to  English.  In- 
deed we  are  told  that  the  majority  of  Latin  students  may  be 


DEFINITENESS  IN  AIM  AND  IN  METHOD  225 

found  to  have  their  English  actually  impaired  by  the  use  of 
poor  English  in  the  making  of  translations. 

Our  conclusion  is  that  the  value  of  Latin  under  the  present 
day  conditions  needs  to  be  most  seriously  studied  before  we 
content  ourselves  with  going  on  spending  several  millions  of 
dollars  a  year  in  the  teaching  of  Latin  and  requiring  several 
years  of  our  children's  time  in  studying  the  subject.  In  con- 
sidering the  psychological  fact  that  most  improvement  is  in 
the  thing  practised,  it  is  very  pertinent  to  ask  after  all,  is  not 
the  study  and  practice  of  English  the  best  way  to  improve  in 
English?  Perhaps  we  shall  think  some  day  that  it  was  curious 
we  should  ever  have  to  ask  that  question. 

The  question  of  English.  The  study  of  English  as  a  tool, 
and  it  has  other  objects,  is  of  fundamental  importance.  No 
other  subject  is  allowed  so  much  time  in  the  school  and  no 
other  subject,  we  are  told,  shows  such  poor  returns  for  the 
time  and  energy  spent.  What  help  can  the  psychologist  give 
in  connection  with  this  problem? 

One  fact  stands  out  with  surprising  clearness.  That  is  that 
whereas  the  student  may  have  practice  with  good  English  so 
far  as  his  work  for  the  English  department  goes,  he  is  likely 
to  practise  poor  English  in  his  work  for  other  departments. 
There  is  a  very  interesting  and  suggestive  study  of  the  transfer 
of  spelling  from  English  to  Sociology  themes  that  is  pertinent. 
Professor  A.  R.  Mead  reports  the  following  experiment. 

With  the  help  of  four  graduate  students  he  collected  thirty 
themes  each  from  as  many  students  who  had  written  both  in 
English  and  in  Sociology.  Each  man's  theme  in  English  was 
compared  with  his  theme  in  Sociology  as  regards  the  accuracy 
of  spelling.     The  writer  tells  us: 

"The  problem  accurately  stated  was.  To  what  extent  do 
students  use  the  accurate  spelling  vocabulary  of  their  themes 
in  English  in  themes  in  sociology?' "  The  results  of  the  com- 
parison of  papers  as  made  by  the  four  graduate  students  are 
stated  as  follows:  "There  were  then,  approximately  160  per 
cent,  more  misspelled  words  in  the  sociology  themes  than  in 
the  English  themes.  In  other  words,  there  was  a  very  genei-al 
tendency  to  lower  the  standard  of  efliciency  in  spelling  used 
in  the  sociology'  themes.  In  matters  of  punctuation  and  cap- 
italization a  beginning  of  a  study  w^as  made.  Here,  too,  a 
similar  tendency  was  observed. 

"The  writer  believes  that  this  minor  study  shows  a  very 
prevalent  tendency  in  the  effectiveness  of  the  teaching  of  Eng- 


226  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

lish  in  high  schools  and  colleges,  although  the  investigation 
made  concerned  college  students  only.  As  he  interprets  the 
situation,  it  represents  a  failure  to  secure  habits  which  trans- 
fer, or  ideals  which  are  consciously  generalized.  As  such,  it 
suggests  the  following:  1)  teachers  of  English  should  strive  to 
secure  such  transfer;  2)  there  should  be  a  very  much  greater 
cooperation  in  the  teaching  of  English.  Had  the  instructor 
in  sociology  placed  emphasis  upon  correct  spelling,  why 
should  the  students  not  have  had  a  stronger  tendency  to  spell 
correctly?  3)  if  such  conditions  exist  as  to  spelling,  the  very 
content  of  one  phase  of  the  English  language,  what  must  be 
the  conditions  regarding  the  transfer  of  the  more  intangible 
elements  of  the  mother  tongue.  It  is  probably  easier  to  secure 
transfer  of  content  than  of  some  other  elements.  Hence,  it  is 
probable  that  many  of  the  values  of  English  are  being  realized 
only  in  a  very  minor  degree."     (60). 

To  state  it  differently,  the  student  practises  poor  English 
more  than  he  practises  good  English  and  has  in  his  nervous 
system  the  results  of  his  practice.  It  may  seem  a  little  hard 
on  the  school  and  college  to  say  that  they  are  fostering,  nay 
more,  that  they  are  practically  teaching  poor  English.  Where 
other  departments  do  not  cooperate  with  the  English  teachers 
in  the  demand  for  good  English  the  influence  of  that  school  or 
college  is  predominantly  for  poor  English.  This  is  the  bare 
fact.  And  the  English  department  alone  with  twice  the  time 
at  its  disposal  than  it  now  has  could  hardly  be  expected  to 
counteract  the  tendencies  that  are  allied  against  it. 

A  lesson  from  the  French  schools.  The  point, — that  people 
learn  to  do  as  they  practise, — is  taken  seriously  in  the  French 
schools  and  we  may  well  take  a  lesson  from  them  in  this  re- 
spect. A  quotation  from  the  valuable  study  of  Professor  R. 
W.  Brown  will  serve  to  emphasize  further  what  I  have  been 
maintaining.  Professor  Brown  tells  us  that  "The  value  of  the 
training  the  French  boy  receives  in  his  courses  in  composition 
is  increased  materially  by  the  character  of  the  writing  he  is 
required  to  do  in  other  subjects.  It  would  be  exaggeration, 
assuredly,  to  say  that  his  writing  in  these  other  subjects  is  al- 
ways done  just  as  carefully  as  that  which  he  submits  to  his 
teacher  of  composition;  and  it  would  be  just  as  great  an  over- 
statement to  say  that  every  teacher  of  mathematics,  botany, 
and  history  is  as  much  interested  in  the  character  of  his  pupils' 
writing  as  he  is  in  the  subject  he  teaches.  Nevertheless,  the 
quality  of  this  writing  which  is  done  as  a  part  of  the  work  in 


DEFINITENESS  IN  AIM  AND  IN  METHOD  227 

other  classes  receives  a  degree  of  attention  from  both  pupil 
and  teacher  that  in  America  may  be  found  only  in  unusual 
instances. 

'Teachers  in  France  would  protest  against  the  assertion  that 
they  had  attained  an  ideal  condition  in  this  respect;  many  of 
them  feel,  as  we  feel  in  America,  that  other  departments  too 
often  neglect  the  quality  of  pupils'  language.  Yet  when  one 
compares  the  practices  of  the  two  countries,  one  cannot  re- 
frain from  felicitating  the  teacher  of  the  mother  tongue  in 
France  upon  the  more  conscientious,  more  intelligent  support 
he  receives  from  his  colleagues  in  other  fields  of  study.  The 
result  is  not  difficult  to  see.  When  the  boy  is  obliged  to  write 
in  his  other  courses,  he  sooner  or  later  reaches  the  conclusion 
that  all  writing  is  important.  He  therefore  not  only  gains 
from  the  thoughtful  practice  which  he  carries  on  in  history, 
civics,  and  physics  or  botany,  but  he  derives  new  profit  from 
his  instruction  in  composition.  His  teacher  of  the  mother 
tongue  ceases  to  be  a  person  who  is  paid  to  talk  about  some- 
thing that  is  unimportant  except  to  himself,  and  becomes  a 
person  of  consequence  who  can  help  one  in  doing  what  every- 
body seems  to  think  is  worth  doing  well. 

....  "I  was  especially  impressed  by  the  neatness  and  ac- 
curacy with  which  the  students  in  the  normal  school  classes 
did  all  of  their  writing.  I  noticed,  moreover,  that  many  of  the 
corrections  on  advanced  papers  had  to  do  with  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  material  and  with  smaller  questions  of  clearness. 
....  In  fact,  whatever  the  prevailing  faults  of  expression, 
there  seemed  to  be  no  assurance  for  the  pupil  that  the  teacher 
would,  by  passing  over  them  habitually,  permit  himself  to 
undo  the  work  of  the  teacher  of  composition  and  literature. 

"The  critical  attitude  toward  all  the  pupils'  written  work  is 
maintained  also  toward  his  speech.  This  fact  was  brought  to 
my  notice  in  a  striking  manner  the  first  time  I  visited  a  class 

in  science If  I  had  encountered  no  other  cases,  I  might 

have  thought  this  only  the  whim  of  an  extremely  sensitive 
teacher.  But  as  I  visited  other  classes  in  a  variety  of  subjects, 
I  came  to  see  that  most  French  teachers  have  a  well  developed 
conscience  in  respect  to  such  matters.  They  do  not  drive  a 
boy  to  abandon  spontaneous  speech,  but  they  do  insist  that  he 
make  clear  cut,  straightforward  answers,  and  that  they  be 
phrased  in  reasonably  acceptable  language."     (13). 

Other  facts  in  relation  to  English.  Some  of  the  difficulty  in 
the  teaching  and  learning  of  English  may  be  seen  also  when 


228  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

one  realizes  the  variety  of  problems  which  arise  in  dealing 
with  the  subject.  The  teacher  desires  to  train  the  student  in 
English  composition,  but  attention  to  rhetoric  is  distracted  by 
corrections  of,  and  instruction  in,  grammar.  The  teacher 
wishes  the  student  to  acquire  some  appreciation  of  the  great 
literary  masterpieces,  but  enjoyment  of  the  literary  produc- 
tions must,  seemingly,  be  interrupted  by  minute  and  generally 
uninteresting  dissection  of  the  English  itself.  At  least  two 
vastly  different  kinds  of  work  appear  to  be  thrown  in  unpsy- 
chological  manner  under  one  head:  namely,  the  study  of 
formal  English  and  the  study  of  English  literature.  These 
different  kinds  of  work  require  different  methods.  The  psy- 
chologist must  advise;  have  some  specific  aim  for  one  kind  of 
work,  and  determine  and  use  the  particular  methods  calculat- 
ed to  attain  this  aim;  for  another  kind  of  work  choose  and 
make  use  of  the  particular  methods  required  for  that. 

Conditions  of  improvement  in  English,  We  are  now  ready 
to  indicate  some  conclusions  which  may  be  drawn  and  to  apply 
some  of  the  facts  and  laws  indicated  in  earlier  chapters  of 
this  book.  In  the  first  place,  most  improvement  is  specific, 
that  is  to  say,  most  improvement  is  in  the  thing  practised.  If, 
then,  one  is  to  improve  in  English,  why  not  study  English  with 
this  definite  purpose?  How  much  can  one  improve  in  English 
by  studying  another  language?  Is  the  price  worth  paying? 
In  the  opinion  of  the  preseht  writer  these  problems  are  still 
unsolved  and  need  to  be  studied  seriously.  In  the  next  place, 
and  akin  to  the  first  point,  it  has  been  discovered  in  the  labor- 
atory that  much  of  the  greater  improvement  in  laboratory 
experiments  over  the  improvement  outside  of  the  laboratory 
is  because  of  the  specific  nature  of  the  practice  on  certain 
definite  things.  If,  then,  the  student  is  to  improve  in  English, 
why  should  not  certain  specific  improvement  be  chosen  and 
that  improvement  be  worked  for  by  the  definite  methods  best 
calculated  to  bring  the  desired  results?  Again,  it  is  known 
that  improvement  is  greater  where  the  learner  knows  his  suc- 
cesses and  failures.  Is  it  not,  therefore,  advisable  that  the 
specific  aim  of  any  work  be  conscious  to  the  student  and  that 
he  know  just  what  progress  he  is  making  towards  the  specified 
end? 

The  theory  of  specific  training  versus  formal  discipline. 
One  other  conclusion  must  be  at  least  considered.  If  most 
improvement  is  in  the  thing  practiced,  if  formal  discipline  or 
transfer  of  training  is  relatively  small  in  amount,  and,  per- 


DEFINITENESS  IN  AIM  AND  IN  METHOD  229 

haps,  limited  in  nature,  should  not  the  curriculum  be  made  up 
on  the  theor\^  of  specific  training  instead  of  on  the  traditional 
theory  of  formal  discipline?  Think  also  of  the  vast  amount 
of  time  spent,  the  large  expenditures  of  money  and  the  alto- 
gether questionable  value  of  results,  involved  in  following 
the  disciplinary  conception. 

A  quotation  from  Professor  Snedden.  The  solution  is  stat- 
ed in  no  uncertain  terms  by  Professor  Snedden,  who  says: 
"In  teaching  modern  languages  we  must  wholly  discard  the 
doctrine  of  formal  discipline.  As  found  in  current  defenses 
of  modern  language  teaching,  it  is  an  unfortunate  heritage 
from  the  factitious  pedagogy  of  Latin.  In  view  of  current 
knowledge  and  uncertainties  regarding  mental  training,  the 
one  safe  assumption  is  this.  Teach  only  those  things,  and  to 
those  degrees,  and  by  those  methods,  that  serve  a  demons- 
trably useful  purpose  in  individual  economy— ^useful,  that  is, 
as  producing,  in  specific  and  tangible  ways,  the  culture,  the 
refinements,  the  sensibilities,  the  stored  knowledges,  the  moral 
habits,  the  ethical  ideals,  the  vocational  powers  that  the  world 
in  its  best  judgment  wants  and  approves.  So  teach  towards 
the  realization  of  these  objects  that  the  appropriate  exercise 
of  mental  qualities  is  always  involved,  and  the  results  of 
which  will  persist.'  We  know  little  today  in  favor  of  any 
theory  of  pure  mental  gymnastics.  What  experience  every- 
where teaches  us,  if  we  would  but  see  it,  is  that  valuable,  and 
probably  always  the  most  valuable,  mental  training  invariably 
accompanies  the  vigorous  and  systematic  pursuit  of  intellect- 
ual objects  in  themselves  worth  while.  The  cumulative  mass- 
ing of  the  results  of  this  by-product  training  in  numerous  and 
varied  fields  is  what  gives  us,  on  the  whole,  the  best  mental 
training  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge."     191). 

A  quotation  from  Professor  Thorndike.  "An  impartial  in- 
ventory of  the  facts  in  the  ordinary  pupil  of  ten  to  eighteen 
would  find  the  general  training  from  English  composition 
greater  than  that  from  formal  logic,  the  training  from  physics 
and  chemistry  greater  than  that  from  geometry,  and  the  train- 
ing from  a  year's  study  of  the  laws  and  institutions  of  the  Ro- 
mans greater  than  that  from  equal  study  of  their  language. 
The  gramatical  studies  which  have  been  considered  the  chief 
depositories  of  disciplinary  magic  would  be  found  in  general 
inferior  to  scientific  treatments  of  human  nature  as  a  whole. 
The  superiority  for  discipline  of  pure  over  applied  science 
would  be   referred  in  large   measure   to   the  fact   that  pure 


230  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

science  could  be  so  widely  applied.  The  disciplinary  value 
of  geometry  would  appear  to  be  due,  not  to  the  simplicity  of 
its  conditions,  but  to  the  rigor  of  its  proofs;  the  greatest  dis- 
ciplinary value  of  Latin  would  appear  in  the  case,  not  of  those 
who  disliked  it  and  found  it  hard,  but  of  those  to  whom  it  was 
a  charming  game."     (111). 

The  practical  conclusion.  What  shall  we  say  in  the  face  of 
the  facts  known  at  the  present  time  except  that  the  only  wise 
course  is  to  accept  the  theory  of  specific  instead  of  the  theory 
of  general  improvement  as  the  basis  of  our  course  of  study? 
There  is  nothing  then  to  prevent  us  from  trying  to  get  all  the 
disciplinary  value  possible  from  what  is  taught.  Shall  we 
then  teach  more  science  instead  of  so  much  Latin?  The  ob- 
jection rises  immediately  that  science  is  not  so  well  taught. 
This  is  undoubtedly  true.  But  the  course  for  educators  is 
plain.  Not  to  continue  that  which  happens  to  be  well  taught 
now  but  to  see  that  other  subjects  are  as  well  taught. 

Above  all  we  must  get  away  from  the  old  incorrect  notion 
that  the  mind  is  a  collection  of  faculties  whose  'general  train- 
ing' is  possible.  We  must  try  to  do  that  which  is  psychologic- 
ally possible,  practical  and  most  valuable,  not  that  which  is 
dictated  by  the  prejudice  of  tradition.  The  verdict  of  psy- 
chology is  that  we  need  to  have  a  clear  statement  of  aims,  so 
that  we  may  adapt  definite  methods  for  their  accomplishment, 
and  that  the  improvement  above  everything  else,  is,  for  the 
most  part,  in  the  thing  practised,  and  as  to  the  influence  'car- 
ried over'  into  another  field,  it  is  little  and  may  be  either  to 
improve  or  to  impair. 

The  aim  of  the  business  man,  of  the  scientist,  of  the  manu- 
facturer, is  for  definite  results.  The  student  and  the  educator 
must  learn  the  lesson. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY. 

1.  Discuss  the  need  for  definiteness  of  aim  in  the  work  of 
the  teacher. 

2.  Carefully  define  the  aims  for  two  or  three  subjects  with 
which  you  are  most  familiar. 

3.  How  must  the  binding  force  of  tradition  be  wisely  coun- 
ter-balanced by  consideration  of  social  values? 

4.  What  is  the  difference  in  the  value  of  Latin  as  a  school 
subject  at  the  present  time  and  at  the  time  when  it  was  put 
into  the  curriculum? 


DEFINITENESS  IN  AIM  AND  IN  METHOD  231 

5.  Just  what  attitude  should  we  take  towards  the  teaching 
of  a  subject  like  Latin  in  the  schools?  Should  we  argue  for 
or  against  it,  or  try  to  find  exactly  its  social  value,  or  try  to 
compare  it  in  social  value  with  other  subjects? 

6.  How  may  the  influence  of  the  schools  and  colleges  ac- 
tually be  for  poor  English  rather  than  for  good  English?  Show 
in  terms  of  the  principle  of  habit  formation. 

7.  How  far  can  the  principle  of  habit  help  us  to  the  much 
needed  definiteness  in  educational  practice? 

8.  Discuss  the  possibility  of  making  the  aims  and  results 
of  education  comparable  in  definiteness  with  those  of  other 
kinds  of  big  business. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  PSYCHOLOGY. 

1.  H.  Ebbinghaus.  An  Outline  of  Psifchologu.  Tr.  by  Max  Meyer. 
1908.     D.  C.  Heath  and  Co.  '  '      ,  •" 

2.  W.  James.  Psijchologij.  Briefer  Course.  1892^  Henry  Holt 
and  Co.  . 

3.  W.James.     Talks  to  Teachers.     1904.     Henry  Holt  and  Co. 

4.  E.  B.  TiTCHENER.  A  Beginner's  Psychology.  1916.  The  Mac- 
millan  Co. 

INTRODUCTION  TO  LEARNING  AND  STUDY. 

1.  S.  S.  CoLviN.     The  Learning  Process.     1911.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

2.  G.  V.  N.  Dearborn.  How  to  Learn  Easily.  1916.  Little,  Brown 
and  Co. 

3.  J.  Dewey.     How  We  Think.     1910.     D.  C.  Heath  and  Co. 

4.  L.  B.  Earhart.  Teaching  Children  to  Study.  1909.  Houghton, 
Mifflin  Co. 

5.  A.  L.  Hall-Quest.     Supervised  Study.     1916.  The  Macmillan  Co. 

6.  0.  M.  Jones.  Teaching  Children  to  Study:  The  Group  System. 
Applied.     1910. 

7.  F.  M.  McMuRRY.  How  to  Study  and  Teaching  to  Study.  1909. 
Houghton,  Mifflin  Co. 

8.  G.  F.  Swain.     How  to  Study.     1917.     McGraw-Hill  Book  Co.,  Inc. 

REFERENCES  OF  A  TECHNICAL  NATURE. 

1.  G.  E.  Jones.  Training  in  Education.  University  of  Pittsburg 
Bulletin.     Vol.  12.     No.  17.     July  15,  1916. 

2.  E.  Meumann.  The  Psychology  of  Learning.  Tr.  by  J.  W.  Baird. 
1913.     D.  Appleton  and  Co." 

3.  E.  L.  Thorndike.  The  Psychology  of  Learning.  Vol.  2  of  his 
Educational  Psychology.  1913.  Teachers  College,  Columbia  Univer- 
sity.    Or,  his  Educational  Psychology,  Briefer  Course,  1915. 

4.  The  Journal  of  Educational  Psychology.     Vols.     1     to     present. 

BIBLOGRAPHY  OF  REFERENCES  USED  IN  TEXT. 

I.  American  Textbook  of  Physiology.  2nd  Ed.  W.  B.  Saunders. 
1901.     Vol.  2,  294. 

2      Same    295 

3.'  Angell,  J.*  R.     Psychology.     H.  Holt  and  Co.     1908.     73-76. 

4.     Same.     66. 
'     5.     Same.     159,  196-7,  206-7,  220-1,  224,  287-8,  294,  361,  365,  410,  414, 

419,  430,  433-7. 

6.  Same.     436-7. 

7.  Same.     338-9. 

8.  Bagley,  W.  C.  The  Educative  Process.  The  Macmillan  Co.  1906. 
Ch.  14. 

9.  Same.     212-13.  .      „  , 

10.  Book,  W.  F.  The  Psychology  of  Skill:  with  Specml  Reference 
to  its  Acquisition  in  Typewriting.  University  of  Montana  Publications 
in  Psychology.     Bulletin  No.  53.     Psychological  Series  No.  1.  178-9. 

II.  Breslich,  E.  R.  Teaching  High  School  Pupils  How  to  Study. 
School  Review.     20:   1912.     505-515. 

232 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  233 

12.  Brown,  J.  C.  An  Investigation  o(  the  Value  of  Drill  Work  in  the 
Fundamental  Operations  of  Arithmetic.  Journal  of  Educational  Psy- 
chology.    3:   1912.     485-492,  561-570. 

13.  Brown,  R.  W.  How  the  French  Boif  Learns  to  Write.  Harvard 
University  Press.     1915.     86  ff. 

13a.  Bryan,  \V.  L.  and  Harter,  N.  Studies  in  the  Physiology  and 
Psychology  of  the  Telegraphic  Language.  Psychological  Review. 
4:    1897,  49. 

14.  Carpenter,  W.  B.     Mental  Physiology.     1874.     339  ff. 

15.  CoLViN,  S.  S.  The  Learning  Process.  The  Macmillan  Co.  1911. 
70. 

16.  Same.     45  ff. 

17.  Conrad,  H.  E.  and  Arps;  G.  F.  An  Experimental  Study  of  Econ- 
omical Learning.  American  Journal  of  Psychology.  '27:  1916. 
507-529. 

18.  Cornell,  W.  S.  Health  and  Medical  Inspection  of  School  Child- 
ren.    F.  A.  Davis.     1912. 

19.  Creighton,  J.  E.  An  Introductory  Logic.  The  Macmillan  Co. 
1910.     203-204. 

20.  Dallenrach,  K.  M.  The  Effect  of  Practice  Upon  Visual  Appre- 
hension in  School  Children.  Journal  of  Educational  Psychology-. 
5:    1914.     390. 

21.  Dearrorn,  W.  F.  Experiments  in  Learning.  Journal  of  Edu- 
cational Psychology.     1:1910.     384-7. 

22.  Drake,  D.  The  Acceleration  of  Moral  Progress.  The  Science 
Monthly.     June,  1916.     605-6. 

23.  Dumville,  E.  and  Lewis,  E.  O.  Silent  and  Concerted  Learning. 
Journal  of  Educational  Psychology.     4:  1913.     356-361. 

24.  Edwards,  A.  S.  The  Distribution  of  Time  in  Learning  Small 
Amounts  of  Material.  Studies  in  Psychology:  Titchener  Commemor- 
ative Volume.     L.  N.  Wilson,  Worcester,  Mass.     1917.     209  ff. 

25.  Same.  Directing  Study  in  the  School  Room.  High  School 
Qunrterlv.     April,   1917.     158  ff. 

26.  Ellwood,  C.  a.  Sociology  and  its  Psychological  Aspects.  D. 
Apoleton  and  Co.     1912.     78. 

27.  Flsher,  I.  and  Fisk,  E.  L.  How  to  Live.  Funk  and  Wagnalls. 
1916.     171-174. 

28.  Foster,  W.  S.  The  Effect  of  Practice  Upon  Visualizing,  etc. 
Journal  of  Educational  Psychology.     2:  1911.     11. 

29.  Hall,  G.  S.  A  Study  of  Anger.  American  Journal  of  Psychol- 
ogy.    July,  1899.     10:  516-591. 

30.  Same.  A  Study  of  Fears.  American  Journal  of  Psychology. 
Jan.  1897.     8:   147-249'. 

31.  Hetherington,  C.  W.  The  Demonstration  Play  School.  Uni- 
versity of  California  Publications.     Vol.  5.  No.  2.     1914.     241-288. 

31a.  Hollingworth,  H.  L.  Correlation  of  Abilities  as  Affected  by 
Practice.     Journal    of   Educational    Psychology-.     4:    1913.     405-414. 

32.  Hosic,  J.  F.  Reorganization  of  English  in  Secondary  Schools. 
Bull,  1917.     No.  2.     Bureau  of  Education,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Henry   Holt   and   Co. 


33. 

James,   W.     Principles   of  Psychology. 

902. 

1:  105-6. 

34. 

Same.     1:   110  ff. 

35. 

Same.     1:   566. 

36. 

Same.     1:  589. 

37. 

Same.     1:   593-4. 

38. 

Same.     1:   125-6. 

39. 

Same.     1:    666-7. 

40. 

James,   W.     Principles   of  Psychology. 

907. 

Briefer  Course,  150. 

Henry  Holt  and  Co. 


234  PRINCIPLES    OF    LEARNING    AND    STUDY 

41.  Same.     Chapter  on  Habit. 

42.  Same.  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psiichologii.  Henry  Holt  and  Co. 
1904.     64-66. 

43.  Same.     76. 

44.  Same.     Chapter  on  Interest. 

45.  Jevons,  W.  S.  The  Principles  of  Science.  The  Macmillan  Co. 
1907.     2. 

46.  Same.     228,   9,   736-7. 

47.  Same.     745  flf. 

48.  Johnson,  G.  E.  An  Educational  Experiment.  Pedagogical 
Seminary.     Vol.  6.     No.  4.     1899.     513-522. 

49.  Jones,  G.  E.  Training  in  Education.  University  of  Pittsburg 
Bulletin.     Vol.   12.     No.   17.     July   15,  1916.     66-104. 

50.  Same.     66. 

51.  JuDD,  C.  H.  The  Psijchologi]  of  High  School  Subjects.  Ginn 
and  Co.     1915.     412-414. 

52.  Same.  Measuring  the  Work  of  the  Public  School.  In  the 
Cleveland  Survey  Series.     W.  F.  Fell  Co.,  Phila.     1916.     57. 

53.  KiRKPATRiCK,  E.  A.  An  Experiment  in  Memorizing  versus  Inci- 
dental Learning.     Journal  of  Educational  Psychology.     5:  1914.  405-6. 

54.  Ladd  and  Woodworth.  Elements  of  Physiological  Psychology. 
1900. 

55.  Same.     566-72. 

56.  Lakenan,  M.  E.  The  Whole  and  Part  Methods  of  Memorizing 
Poetry  and  Prose.  Journal  of  Educational  Psychology.  4:  1913. 
189-98. 

57.  Same.     189-98. 

58.  Lee,  F.  S.  Recent  Progress  in  our  Knowledge  of  the  Physio- 
logical Action  of  Atmospheric  Conditions.  Science.  New  Series.  VoL 
XLIV.     Aug.  11,  1916.     183-90. 

59.  Mann,  F.  J.  Eye  Strain  and  Retardation  in  School  Life.  School 
and  Society.     Vol.  3,  Jan.  1916.     33-36. 

60.  Mead,  A.  R.  Transfer  of  Spelling  Vocabulary.  Journal  of  Edu- 
cational Psychology.     8:  1917.     41-44. 

61.  Mead,  C.  D.  Results  in  Silent  versus  Oral  Reading.  Journal 
of  Educational  Psychology.     8:   1917.     367  flf. 

62.  McDouGALL,  W.  An  Introduction  to  Social  Psychology.  9th 
Ed.     1915.     116. 

63.  Same.     348. 

64.  Merriam,  J.  L.  How  well  may  Pupils  be  Prepared  for  High  School 
Work  without  Studying  Arithmetic,  Grammar,  etc.,  in  the  Grades? 
Journal  of  Educational  Psychology.  6:1915.  361-2.  Or,  Educational 
Review,  April,  1909. 

65.  Meumann,  E.  The  Psychology  of  Learning.  Tr.  by  Baird.  D. 
Appleton  and  Co.     1910.     Chapter  1. 

66.  Same.     Chapter  1. 

67.  Same.     267-9. 

68.  Same.     233  flf. 

69.  Same.     233  flf. 

70.  MuLHALL,  Miss.  American  Journal  of  Psychology.  26:  1915. 
219  flf. 

71.  Murphy,  H.  H.  Distribution  of  Practice  Periods  in  Learning. 
Journal  of  Educational  Psychology.     7:  1916.     150  flf. 

72.  Offner,  M.  Mental  Fatigue.  Tr.  by  Whipple.  Warwick  and 
York.     1911. 

73.  Parker,  S.  C.  Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  Schools.  Ginn 
and  Co.     1915.     Chapter  XIII. 

74.  Same.     403,  411. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  235 

75:  Patrick  and  Gilbert.  Psychological  Review.  1896.  Vol.  3^ 
No.  5. 

76.  Pearson,  K.  Grammar  of  Science.  Part  1.  3rd  Ed.  191K 
138.     See  also  130-34,  136,  150. 

77.  Same.     7  footnote. 

78.  Peterson,  J.  Psychological  Review.  23:  No.  2  Mch.  1916. 
153  ff. 

79.  Phillips,  F.  M.  Value  of  Daily  Drill  in  Arithmetic.  Journal 
of  Educational  Psychology,  4:  1913.     159-163. 

80.  Pyle,  W.  >!.  Economical  Training.  Journal  of  Educational 
Psychology.     4:  1913.     148-158. 

M.     Same.     5:   1914.     247-268. 

82.  Pintner,  Rudolf  and  Gilliland,  A.  R.  Oral  and  Silent  Read^ 
ing.     Journal  of  Educational  Psychology.     7:   1916.     210. 

82a.  Pintner,  Rudolf  and  Paterson,  "boNALD,  G.  A  Class  Test  with 
Deaf  Children.     Journal  of  Educational  Psychology,  6:  1915,  597. 

8^.  Radestock,  p.  Habit  and  Education.  Tr.  by  Gaspari.  D.  C. 
Heath.     1914. 

84.  Same.     71-2. 

85.  Rapeer,  L.  W.  The  Problem  of  Formal  Grammar  in  Element-^ 
aru  Education.     Journal  of  Educational  Psychology.     4:1913.     125-37. 

86.  Reports  of  the  Trustees  of  Independent  Industrial  Schools, 
Worcester,  Mass.  City  Documents:  No.  66,  1911;  No.  67,  1912;  No.  68,. 
1913. 

87.  Ross,  E.  A.  Social  Psychology.  The  Macmillan  Co.  Chapter 
on  Custom  and  Imitation.     Also,  94,  196,  274. 

88.  Seashore,  C.  E.  The  Midday  Nap.  Journal  of  Educational 
Psychology.     1:    1910.     293. 

^9.     Smith,  A.     Moral  Sentiments.     6:  3. 

90.  Snedden,  David.  Problems  of  Secondary  Education.  Hough- 
ton, MifHin  and  Co.     1916.     124. 

91.  Same.     163-4. 

92.  Spencer,  H.  The  Principles  of  Psychology.  1893.  Vol.  K 
245. 

92a.  Sta-rch,  Daniel.  Periods  of  Work  in  Learning.  Journal  of 
Educational   Psychology.     3:    1912.     209-213. 

93.  Sumner,  W.  G.  "  Folkways.     1913,  iv.     Also,  Chapters  1  and  2. 

94.  Swift,  E.  J.     Youth  and  the  Race.     Charles  Scribner's.     1912. 

95.  Same.  Studies  in  the  Psychology  and  Physiology  of  Learning^ 
American  Journal  of  Psychology.     14:   1903.     201   ff. 

96.  Sully,    James.     Outlines    of   Psychology.     D.    Appleton.     1915,. 

120-1. 
124. 
437-38. 
473. 
473. 
483. 
350-52. 
369-70. 

470-85. 

Tarde,  G.     The  Laws  of  Imitation.     1903.     7,  14,  137,  138,  366- 
footnote,  369.  _^„      „„„ 

107.  Taylor,  A.  E.  Elements  of  Metaphysics.     1903.     238. 

108.  Terman,  L.  M.,  and  Hocking,  Adelaide.  The  Sleep  of  Schoot 
Children:  Its  Distribution,  etc.  Journal  of  Educational  Psychology. 
4:  1913.     138-147;  199-208;  269-282.  ,.  ,    ^ 

109.  Thorndike,    E.    L.     Educational    Psychology.     Vol.  2.       The 


29. 

97. 

Same. 

98. 

Same. 

99. 

Same. 

100. 

Same. 

101. 

Same. 

102. 

Same. 

103. 

Same. 

104. 

Same. 

105. 

Same. 

106. 

Tarde 

236  PRINCIPLES    OF   LEARNING   AND    STUDY 

Psijchologif  of  Learning.     Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  1913, 

lio.     Same.     326-7. 

111.  Same.     424. 

112.  Same.     Mental  Fatigue.     Journal   of  Educational   Psvchologv. 
2:   1911.     61-68.  ^ 

112a.     Same.     Practice  in  the  Case  of  Addition.     American  Journal 
of  Psychology.     21:1910.     483-486. 

113.  TiTCHENER,  E.  B.      A  Beginnefs  Psychology.      The  Macmillan 
Co.     1916.     98-99. 

114.  Same.     170-71. 

115.  Same.     93  flf. 

116.  Same.     A  Primer  of  Psychology.     The  Macmillan  Co.  1907,  79. 

117.  Same.     136-8. 

118.  Same.     A  Textbook  of  Psychology.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1916. 
274-5. 

119.  Same.     497. 

120.  Whipple,  G.  M.     How  to  Study  Effectively.     School  and  Home 

121.  WooDROw,  H.  H.     Practice  and  Transference  in  Normal  and 
Feeble-minded  Children.     Journal     of     Educational     Psychology.     8: 
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form  by  Public  School  Publishing  Co.,  Bloomington,  111.,  1916-7. 
1917.     Part  1:  Practice,  85  ff;  Part  2:  Transference,  151  ff. 


INDEX 


-Aflfective  expansion,  151. 

Affective  habits,   Ch.   14  . 

Agassiz,  78. 

Age  and   learning,  71. 

Air,   i88ff. 

Analogy,  80. 

Angell,'j.  R.,  2-7. 

Appeal,  means  of  for  teacher,  I44ff. 
case  studies  of  successful"  ap- 
peals, I47ff- 

"Apperception,"  67. 

Assignments,  length  of,  I36f,  and 
interest,  I53f. 

Association  Chs.  10  and  11;  also  118, 
126,  and  feelings,  178;  cramming, 
I26f:  interest,  152. 

Attention,  and  sustained  effort  Ch. 
13;  kinds  of,  159;  conditions  of, 
159,  and  distraction,  165;  hin- 
drances to,  i65ff;  case  studies, 
i67ff ;  direction  of,  171 ;  and  con- 
trol of  action,  171. 

Attitude  of  student,  136. 

Auditory  defects,  i84f. 

Bagley,  W.  C,  in. 
Body  and  mind,  184. 
Breslich,  E.  R.,  196. 
Brown,  R.  W.,  226. 
Bryan  and  Harter,  99. 

Classification  of  pupils,  loi. 

Coincidences,    79f. 

Cohin,  S.  S.,  36,  104. 

Completeness   of   response,  94f. 

Conversion  of  arguments,  82. 

CornelK  W.  S.,  184. 

Corson,  H.,  79. 

Cramming,    I26f. 

Curriculum,  47 ;  and  supervised  study, 

Ch.  17. 
Curve  of  learning,  97. 

Dallenbach.  K.  M.,  87f . 
Definiteness,   need    for  in   education, 
Ch.  18. 


Deafness,  i85f. 

Defects,    184. 

Diet,  balanced,  i87f. 

Distribution  of  repetitions,  121. 

Division  of  time,   122;   and  reviews, 

122. 
Drake.  D.,   i82f. 
Drill,  87,  119:  and  use,  89. 
Dumville  and  Lewis,    137. 
Duration,  119. 

Education:  permanent  results,  12; 
of  the  individual,  13;  and  here- 
dity, 14;  three  principles  of,  19; 
means  of,  19;  the  educative 
process,  20;  greatest  needs  of, 
20;  basis  of,  Ch.  2;  and  Neu- 
rology, Ch.  2;  ideals  the  guid- 
ing influence,  45;  the  controlling 
principle  of,  46;  definition  of,  49; 
moral,  181  ff;  need  for  definite- 
ness in  aim  and  method,  Ch.  18. 

Early    training,   53- 

Empathy,  T/. 

English,  225ff. 

Evening  school  study,  194. 

Fatigue,    124,   165;    feeling  of,     166; 

and  school  hours,  I92ff. 
Feelings,  93;  and  habit,  Ch.  14;  and 

action,    177;      and     associations, 

178. 
Flexibility,  and  variety  of  habits,  32. 
Food,  i86ff. 

Forcing  for  improvement,   105. 
Forgetting,  140. 
Formal    discipline,    see    Transfer   of 

Acquisitions,   Ch.  9. 
French  schools,  a  lesson  from,  226, 
Frequency  of  repetition,  119,  129. 

General  impressions,  79. 
Grammar,  139. 

Habit:  as  used  in  this  book,  ii;  15; 
vs.  automatism,  12;  fixes  and 
releases,  12 ;  importance  of  Habit 


237 


238 


INDEX 


Theory,  I5ff;  comprehensiveness 
of  I5ff.,  24.,  2y,  40;  fundamental 
nature  of,  22 ;  and  thinking^28ff., 
and  originality  29;  plasticity  arid 
fixity,  3off. ;  variety  of  response, 
ZZ;  initiative,  34;  types  of,  35; 
as  fundamental  in  education,  Ch. 
3 ;  and  higher  stages  of  efficiency, 
38;  includes  permanent  desires 
and  interests,  39;  and  character, 
41 ;  as  basis  for  measurement, 
42 ;  kinds  of,  48 ;  and  learning, 
51 ;  needs  for,  51 ;  results  of, 
5if. ;  principles  of  habit  forma- 
tion, 54ff. ;  hindrances  to,  58ff. ; 
breaking  old  habits,  6off. ;  and 
feeling,  Ch.  14;  moral,  181. 

Hardening   period,    124. 

Heredity,    and    education,    14. 

Henmon,  V.  A.  C,  136. 

Home  study  habits,  196. 

Humidity,    189. 

Ideas   and   habits,   44. 

Ideals,  18;  the  guiding  influence  in 
education,  45;  and  achievement, 
45 ;  as  permanent  motives,  46. 

Imitation,  68,  78. 

Improvability,  Ch.  8;  limits  of  105. 

Improvement,  avoidance  of  mislead- 
ing tendencies,  Ch.  6;  progress 
and  improvability,  Ch.  7;  univer- 
sality of,  86;  regularity  and  per- 
sistence, 87;  drill,  87;  use,  89; 
definite  practice,  90;  correct  prac- 
tice, 91 ;  critical  attitude,  91 ;  of 
methods,  92;  feelings,  93;  phy- 
sical and  physiological  condi- 
tions, 94;  Ch.  15;  completeness 
of  response,  94;  in  subnormals, 
95;  at  different  stages  of  learn- 
ing, 100;  and  individual  differ- 
ences,  loi ;  'and  plateaus,   I02ff. 

Individual  differences,  loi. 

Inherited    tendencies    and    capacities, 
.144. 

Institncts,  selfish,   146. 

Initiative,  34. 

Interest,  I5iff;  and  effort,  156,  and 
Ch.    13;   development  of,    I79ff. 

James,  W.,  I7ff.,  25,  28f,  41,  92. 

Jevons,  W.  S.,  isff. 

Jones,  G.  E.,  47f. 

Jost's  law,  121. 

Judd,  C.  H.,  112,  197,  222. 

Jumping  to  conclusions,  80. 


Kirkpatrick,  E.  A.,  89. 

Lakenan,  M.  E.,  134,  136. 
Language   difficulties,   84;   and   habit 

vs.   grammar,    139. 
Latin,  223ff. 

Learning,    through    the    senses,    64: 
.    through  reasoning,  69;  and  age, 

7iff;    trial    and    error,    68,    78; 

progress    and    improvability,    C'h. 

7;     plateaus,     etc.,     Ch.     8;     the 

curve  of,  97;  permanence  of,  Chs. 

10  and  11;  rate  of,  I27f;   order 

o^»    137;    silent    vs.    aloud,    137; 

and    supervised    study,    Chs.    I'S 

and    17. 
Lee,  F.  S.,  189. 
Leuba  and  Hyde,  130. 

McDougall,  W.,   16. 

Mead,  A.  R.,  and  study  in  English, 
225. 

Mead,   C  D.    137. 

Memories,  Chs.  10  and  11;  modern 
conception  of,  117;  conditions  of, 
118;  primary  and  secondar>' 
laws  of,  118;  cramming,  I26f. 

Mcrrian,  J.  L.,  47. 

Methods,  improvement  in  92,    118. 

Meumann,  E.,  119,  128,  133,  135. 

Mind   and  body,   i84f. 

Motivation,    Chs.    12   and   13. 

Mnemonics,   I38f. 

Murphy,  H.  H.,   129. 

Nature  of  material,  132. 
Neurology  and  education,  Ch.  2. 
Note-taking,  68f. 

Offner,  M.,  192. 
Opportunity  classes,  loi. 

Parker,  S.  C,  ^z,  197- 

Pearson,  K.,  15,  112. 

Perception,  64ff. 

Permanence  and  kind  of  learning, 
141  ;  see  Memories;  and  the 
feelings,  Ch.  14. 

Persistence,  87. 

Physical  and  physiological  condi- 
tions, Ch.  15. 

Pintner   and   Gilliland,    137. 

Pitfalls   for  the  student,  Ch.  6. 

Plateaus,  Ch.  8;  causes  of,  I02ff. 

Practice,  87ff. 

Prejudice,  76. 

Primacy,  121. 


INDEX 


239 


Principles,  three,  of  education,   19. 
Proo^ress,   see   Improvement. 
Purpose,   173. 

Radestock,   P.,   13. 

Radossawljewitsch,   P.   R.,    140. 

Rate  of  learning,    I27f. 

Reading,   -j},. 

Reasoning,  learning  by,  69flF. 

Recency,   121. 

Regularity,  87,  129. 

Repetition,  ii9flF,  distribution  of  re- 
petitions,  121. 

Response,  completeness  of,  94f. 

Retention,  see  memory ;  immediate 
and  permanent,  126. 

Reviews,  122. 

Short    periods,    I24ff. 

Silent  learning,   137. 

Size  of  units,  135. 

Sleep,    193- 

Snedden,   DaVid,  222,  229. 

Social  values,  223. 

Spencer,  H.,  16. 

Standards,  18. 

Stimulus  and  release  of  energy,  143. 

Study,  observational,  64ff. ;  by  rea- 
soining,  69ff. ;  supervised,  Chs. 
16  and  17 ;  suggestions  for  stu- 
dent, to  be  used  by  teacher, 
i98fT. ;  the  teacher's  responsibil- 
ity. 205;  pupil's  study  card,  206; 
and  the  curriculum,  2o6f ;  max- 
ims for  studv  of  school  subjects, 
2i8fiF. 

Suggestion,  151. 

Sully,  J.,  25.  30,  43. 


Supervised   study,   see   Study. 
Swift,  E.  J.,  100,  146. 

Teacher,  the  work  of,  25,  43,  143; 
means  of  appeal,  case  studies, 
I47ff,  I59ff;  suggestions  for  stu- 
dents, to  be  used  by  the  teacher, 
i98fT ;  responsibility  in  teaching 
how  to  study,  205. 

Temperature,    189. 

Thinking,  common  tendencies,  Ch.  6. 

Thorndike.  E.  L.,  98ff.,  141  f.,  229f. 

Titchener,   E.   B.,  25,   37,   52,   177. 

Topical  study.   132. 

Tradition,  and  the  curriculum,  223, 

Transfer  of  acquisitions,  Ch.  9;  fac- 
tors that  complicate  the  discus- 
sion, 108:  extent  of,  108;  nature 
of,  109;  factors  in,  no;  condi- 
tions of,  III;  Maxims,  113;  and 
choice  of  subjects  and  teachers, 
Ii4f. 

Trial  and  error,  68,  78f. 

Use,  vs.  drill,  89. 

Visual  defects,  185. 
Vividness,  119, 

Warming  up  period,   123. 

Whipple,  G.   M.,    i89f,   193- 

Whole  and  part  method,  133;  modi- 
fication  of   whole   method,    135. 

Will,   in   moral   training,    181. 

Woodrow,  H.   H.,  95^- 

Woodworth  and   Thorndike,   in. 

Work,  change  of,  191,  and  fatigue, 
191. 


TT 


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